How to Train Your Grimm
by TravisT
Summary: Note: this is a remake of my first fanfic. Remnant is a curious world, with many different ways of life. But with those luxuries, comes discomforts. The Grimm are certainly no exception. But when a young huntress shoots down a new species of Grimm, it may soon be realized that all they know about Grimm is wrong. Rated K for some graphic scenes.
1. Chapter 1: The Hunt in Forever Fall

A/N

A few things to address before this story starts: don't expect frequent updates like my other stories. Life is really hectic lately, so I have little time to write these. Next, nothing in this story do I own! And lastly, I would like to mention that this is a rewrite of my first story on this website. But due to it being my first story ever, I scrapped it for it being way to OOC for the characters. That, and I got a LOT of facts wrong. Anyway, with all that said, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Hunt of Forever Fall

'This is Remnant. It has one moon- well, half a moon, if you want to get technical, but it's always a beauty to look at in the night sky. It has four kingdoms, safe havens to mankind: Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo. And each has its own Hunter academy, those being Haven, Atlas, Shade, and Beacon. These academies are made to train each generation of huntsmen and huntresses, and I am one of them. I study at Beacon in Vale. It's a nice enough place once you get settled in, and the people there are even nicer. Well, once you get to know them, anyway.

The only problems are the pests.

While ordinary places have mice or mosquitoes, we have...'

Deep within the autumn forest, a team of huntresses moved to pursue a pack of wild creatures. But one flying creature sent a volley of razor sharp feathers at them, which made them take cover.

"Grimm." The youngest of the team said, who also happened to be the leader. Her name was Ruby Rose, a youth who has always dreamed of being a huntress, and of being like the heroes in fairy tales, who always save the world without ever asking for anything in return. Her team was her half sister, Yang Xiao Long, a cat Faunus, Blake Belladonna, and an heiress, Weiss Schnee. Together, they were team RWBY. But now, they were hunting a pack of Grimm called Beowolves, large black wolf like creatures with bones as armor. They were also in pursuit of a large bird like Grimm called a Nevermore. But they soon found themselves right in the middle of an ambush, as a Borbatusk rolled right their ranks, splitting them apart.

Ruby and Yang found themselves surrounded by a group of Beowolves while Blake and Weiss were circled by Nevermores. They had faced worse if they were honest, but when an Ursa Major rose from the trees, they started to have doubts.

"Try to keep moving! Take out the easier targets first to get more breathing room!" Ruby shouted. Yang blew away a Beowolf that charged at her, while more advanced on her, which she took care of by creating a shockwave with a hard punch to the ground. Ruby then impaled another Beowolf, twirling her scythe around to decapitate three more. But it seemed that with each Grimm that fell, two more took their places.

"They just keep coming!" Yang said, blasting a Beowolf away.

"I hope my call carried through. Hopefully we should have backup soon." Ruby said.

"They better get there really fast, because I don't know how long we can hold out!" Blake shouted. Now they were starting to get swarmed by Beowolves, and the Nevermores took the first strike on them, sending volley upon volley of feathers at them. Their auras held up, but barely, as Blake had already drawn blood. She grasped her cut shoulder as a Beowolf charged at her, but she wasn't down for the count as she slashed upward and sliced the Grimm in half. Weiss covered Blake as she put pressure on her wound, but she had already lost a bit of blood, as it was already staining her sleeve. Weiss knew they needed to get rid of the Nevermores, but with the Beowolves around them, it made their jobs a lot harder.

"Yang, Weiss, Freezer Burn!" Ruby said. Yang nodded, and she leaped into the air over Weiss. She created a sheet of ice, which Yang crashed down on and created a smokescreen for the team. It let them cut down the Beowolf ranks much easier, and made it harder for the Nevermores to locate them. But they knew the screen wouldn't last forever, and with every slash Blake dealt, more blood poured out of her open wound. Eventually, Weiss stopped Blake, and put her blade to ice.

"This might hurt a bit." Weiss said, putting a thin coat of ice on her left shoulder. Blake gritted her teeth, as the pain was excruciating, but she endured. It did the job and stopped the bleeding thankfully. But now she only had one hand to fight with. And the rest of the team was starting to get a bit worse for wear. But when the smokescreen faded, the Nevermores were gone, and so were the Beowolves. And even the Ursa had vanished.

"This isn't good. They might be planning another ambush." Blake said.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Where did they even go?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, does anyone see that?" Ruby asked, pointing to the night sky. In the starry night sky, some stars vanished, and reappeared, and it continued. There was something up there.

"Yeah, I see it. Maybe it's a bullhead." Yang said.

"No way, if it were, we'd see it a bit more clearly. If Ruby hadn't mentioned it, I'd never had noticed it." Weiss said.

"It's a Grimm." Blake said.

"How can you-" Yang asked. "Oh right, cat Faunus. Night vision."

"What does it look like, Blake?" Ruby asked.

"It... looks like a..." Blake said, narrowing her eyes, but she shook her head. "I can't see it clearly."

"You've lost a lot of blood, take it easy for now." Weiss said.

"Dragon." Blake said. "It looks like a dragon."

"Uh oh." Yang said. A high pitched noise sounded in the cold air, as a ball of purple fire crashed a yard away from the team, and the force was so great it sent them flying from the blast.

"Yeah, definitely a dragon." Weiss said.

"What do we do?" Yang asked.

"Ice Flower!" Ruby said. She planted her scythe into the ground as Weiss created a glyph in front of the barrel. She aimed skyward, and waited for the moment.

"What's the hold up?" Weiss asked.

"Wait..." Ruby muttered, aiming her shot carefully. She saw the outline of the dragon, and steadied her aim. "Now!" Ruby then shot a blast of ice skyward, and they waited. Eventually, the sky lit up with a small flash of white, and afterward was the screech of the dragon, as it fell toward land.

"Woo! Way to go, sis!" Yang cheered.

"I actually hit it." Ruby said, as if she couldn't believe what she did was real.

"And look who finally decided to show up." Yang said. A few bullheads were flying in. Weiss shot a low energy ball of fire into the air to act as a flare, and the bullheads came in to pick them up. Inside was team JNPR along with some of the staff.

"Are you guys alright?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, but Blake is in worse condition than us. She lost a lot of blood." Ruby said. Blake was carried over with Yang supporting her as she pushed down on her shoulder.

"We should take her back to Beacon. She needs medical support." Pyrrha said.

"Are you sure that the area is clear?" Oobleck asked.

"For now. The Grimm we were fighting ran off after the smokescreen we made vanished." Blake said.

"Hmm... this is odd. Grimm are not known for creating diversions and then running off. Usually, if they do end up creating diversions, they fight to the death. But why is this not the case with this hunt?" Oobleck wondered. "This is most troubling. But we should not pursue, as your team is a bit worse for wear. Let us return to Beacon for proper treatment!" They boarded the bullhead and flew back to Beacon, as dawn broke over the mountains. While they flew, one of the staff took the first aid kit in the bullhead and started properly binding Blake's shoulder. The ice on her shoulder had already melted from the blast, which saved them that trouble.

"What happened down there, anyway? It looked like you guys shot something down." Jaune said.

"Was it a new Grimm?" Nora asked excitedly.

"I guess. We didn't get a good look at it before we shot it. Blake was really the only one who got that look." Ruby said.

"It had the form of a dragon, and it fired a ball of purple fire at us. Even in the darkness, it could see us with almost perfect sight." Blake said.

"Woooooah. That... Is... AWESOOOOME!" Nora said. "I TOLD you dragon Grimm exist! You all thought I was crazy!"

"Nora, this was the first instance in our lives we've heard actual stories of a Grimm dragon. But yes, I guess you were right." Ren said.

"However, it is a tragedy we could not further observe this new species of Grimm. But perhaps this record in history is not lost. If one exists, there are bound to be more." Oobleck said.

"Which is a good thing?" Ruby asked.

"I would not say this is a good thing, Miss Rose. Those Grimm sound to be quite dangerous. If Blake's description is right, I fear they could bring the downfall of a whole kingdom if there were more." Oobleck said.

"Hopefully that Grimm is dead. I think I saw it fall down in the Emerald Forest on the western edge." Jaune said.

"Maybe it's still alive, but just downed. Maybe we can still get a good look at it and record it." Ruby said.

"It would be extremely dangerous to bring a Grimm of that sort into the school. We would have to double our watches, and we do not have the energy to do so. Perhaps it is best if we leave this creature to the wild." Oobleck said. Ruby looked out the window, and far off in the Emerald Forest she looked, to where the dragon might have landed.

'The eastern edge...' Ruby thought. 'I don't have to bring it back, maybe just get a photo, or even a sketch could work. If I could sneak out at some point, I could find it.'

[later that day, the western boarder of the Emerald Forest]

Ruby managed to sneak out of Beacon and get into the Forest with little trouble. Except for actually finding the dragon. She looked all over the forest, even the complete opposite sides of where it was said to be. But no sign, not even a broken twig. Though, she did find the tree she chopped down during initiation. Still in the same place as before. She often used it as a landmark if she ever got lost.

She yelled out in frustration and kicked a branch. She then sat down on a log and sighed.

"Maybe it died in the air, and it never researched land." Ruby said. She put her head in her hands and sighed. "Stupid Grimm. Why do they have to vanish when they die?" Ruby muttered. But she didn't watch where she was walking, and tripped in a downward slope. She looked up, and a whole tree was knocked over, along with a mud trail leading to an outlet. "How on Remnant did I miss this?" Ruby wondered as she walked over to the outlet, and just over the ledge was a sight she couldn't believe.

There in the center of the outlet was a dragon. It wasn't as big as she was expecting, only about as long as an Alpha Beowolf when sprawled out and just as thin as one. But unlike a Beowolf, it had long wings, about half the size of a Nevermore's, and a tail as long as she was tall, which was half covered in ice, and the dragon was entangled in thick vines.

One other thing she noticed was that instead of the normal bone armor that most Grimm had, it had its entire body covered in thick black scales. She approached slowly, and the dragon seemed to still be breathing. She was in so much shock that she forgot to take a photo of the large Grimm.

"I actually did it. I, Ruby Rose, have shot down this mighty Grimm-" Ruby said heroically, but when she planted her scythe next to the dragon like a flag, it shoved her off of it, and she pointed Crescent Rose at it. The Grimm was now breathing much more than before, and when it opened its eyes, Ruby saw the slit eyes of a cat, not the blood thirsty red eyes of a Grimm. She was so startled by this, if she did remember about the photo, it was all but pushed out of her mind. "I can't leave a Grimm this powerful alive. I have to kill it." Ruby said. The dragon let out a small growl, but it wasn't threatening. It was almost like a plea.

Ruby paid no kind to it, and raised her scythe for the kill. But she looked down on the dragon, and in its slit green eyes, she saw not the need to kill, but the need to live, and she saw one thing in it that she saw in everyone's eyes: kindness. She looked into its eyes, and saw its soul, and in its soul was the compassion of a human being. She shook her eyes away from its, and tried to bring the blade down. But inside the dragon, she saw one last thing: herself. She saw the person of herself, the traits of herself, the soul of herself. Though it was not human, and it carried no resemblance to her in a physical form, she saw the inner beauty of this horrifying beast, and she saw that it cared for her, even though she was responsible for it being down on the ground, entangle in this prison of vines. The only one she knew that would show that kindness was...

Herself.

Her mind struggled with her body, trying to use every muscle to bring the blade down on the beast, but her heart shouted a different argument, one that she never thought she would debate. 'Save the Grimm.' Her heart told her. Her mind shouted to kill it, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She brought her blade to the ground, but not onto the dragon. She panted at her own inner battle, and sit back.

Ruby sighed. "Why? I've killed so many Grimm, no problem. Why is it that..." Ruby asked. But she already knew why, she simply didn't want to accept it.

This Grimm had a soul. And Ruby could never take another soul, even if she tried. It wasn't in her nature. Her job was to protect all souls of all creeds and nations. All souls.

"I know what needs to be done." Ruby sighed. She took Crescent Rose, but she picked it up by the end, where a small razor was. Sufficient for a knife. She took one of the vines and sawed it off with the end. The dragon was startled by the action, but Ruby kept tearing the vines off, one by one. Her heart race at the mere thought of freeing a Grimm, and her mind screamed at her to stop and kill it, but she blocked it out. When she chopped off the last vine, the dragon lunged at her, pressing her back to a rock. Crescent Rose was out of reach, and it was impossible for her to escape, even with her semblance. She struggled to get out, but then she met the dragon's gaze.

It was one of pure anger, anger she had never seen before. It wasn't an anger for blood, like the Grimm carried, or an anger for a petty crime, as a person may carry. It was an anger of vengeance, an anger of a want to kill, but also knowing that the person that they are about to kill has saved them. It was an anger of both revenge and forgiveness. The dragon reared back and opened its mouth, and Ruby thought this was the end, but the dragon roared in her face, one which made her ears ring. After that, the dragon dashed off, smashing the block of ice on its tail on a rock. It fluttered off out of sight, but Ruby wasn't so. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her mind was racing, trying to comprehend what had happened. Her ears still rung, and her vision blurred as she slipped into unconsciousness, hoping to God it was all just a terrible dream, and that the Grimm didn't have a soul, and it was dead in the real world.

A/N

That took a while to write. This'll probably be my last update for a while, as work is a necessity, and writing is not. But I do hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope I can do a better job on this than I did last time (and hopefully be able to post the final chapter, unlike last time I tried this.). Regardless, like and favorite this so you don't miss out on future updates, leave a review of what I can improve on next chapter, PM me for any ideas you may have for the future chapters, or if you just want to see some random thing happen in bonus chapters. Who knows. But with that, I'll be off. Stay weird, kiddos!

P.S., sorry if I made the fight scene a bit too graphic. I know HTTYD is "for kids", but RWBY is far from that.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Perspective

A/N

Hey, so sorry about the slow updates. My computer stopped working, so I was without any writing devices for a good while. But my hiatus has given me a good idea of where to take this story, so enjoy!

Chapter 2: A New Perspective

It was around sunset when Ruby awoke. Her neck was still sore and her heart was still racing. It was definitely not a dream. Her mind regretted not killing the dragon when she had the chance, but her heart was thankful it was (as far as she knew) still alive. Her whole being was in a conflict about the dragon. She didn't know whether to pursue the dragon or let it live on. Perhaps she'd see it again, and if it attacked her, it'd be easier for her.

"Stop thinking like that, Ruby. You're a huntress, and you're supposed to show mercy. And…" Ruby said, looking to where the dragon had raced off. "He did spare my life. I suppose it's fair if I do the same." She then realized the time, and also realized where she was. "I should get back to Beacon. I was lucky to not have been attacked while I was out." Ruby retrieved her scythe, and ran back to Beacon. But along the way she still couldn't get her mind off of the dragon, no matter how hard she tried. The green eyes that showed both hatred and forgiveness at the same time, and the same eyes that showed fear when it was trapped… Ruby knew about Grimm. Should they have been trapped the way the dragon was, they'd struggle and claw their way out of the vines. That or kill themselves. But the dragon did nothing to escape, except wait for Ruby to either kill it or free it.

A few minutes later, Ruby managed to get back to Beacon. She hoped that she wasn't gone long enough for anyone to notice.

Sadly, as soon as she opened her dorm room, her teammates immediately started asking her questions.

"Where have you been? You've been gone for three hours!" Weiss asked.

"Uh…" Ruby said.

"We were beginning to think you just ran off." Blake said.

"Uh, well…" Ruby said awkwardly. She didn't plan ahead of what she would say if they started asking her these kinds of questions.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Well, you see…" Ruby half sighed. "I… was just doing a favor for one of the teachers."

"Like?" Blake asked.

:"Well, they wanted me to check the surrounding of the Emerald Forest, see if there were any signs of any more Grimm attacks. From signs, it should be a good while before the next Grimm attack." Ruby came up with the lie off the top of her head.

"Well, at least it'll give time for Blake to recover. The doctor said to take it easy for a week or two, let the cut heal, drink a lot of water, etc." Yang said.

"And give us a week to take it easy." Blake said.

"Yeah…" Ruby said. She remembered today was the start of spring break.

Thankfully after that, everything cooled down, which let Ruby relax a bit. But she still couldn't get the dragon off her mind. She gathered some sketch paper and a pencil, along with her scroll and a spare knife, just in case. After Mountain Glenn, she learned to always have a spare edge on hand. Once she had everything, she told her team she would be out landscaping, to put some pressure off. That was a lie. She was going to find the dragon. But she would do some landscaping as well so that they wouldn't get suspicious.

She went back to the place she first encountered the dragon, the vines still in the same place, some still dangling from the tree branches above. She then followed the path to a small hidden lake, which the students of Beacon came to learn as Emerald Lake, as when the sun rose over Beacon, the lake would turn an emerald green. Ruby looked around, but saw the dragon nowhere. Ruby sighed and lowered herself to the ground.

"Maybe it's for the best. The dragon did seem more nice than most Grimm." Ruby sighed. She looked to her side, and found a pitch black scale on the ground. She picked it up off the ground, and tried bending it. It was harder than any metal she's ever seen. She put the scale in her pocket so she could test the full durability later. And at that moment, a black blur raced past her. Instinctively, she jumped back and reached for Crescent Rose. But she then saw the dragon clawing its way up the cliff, only for it to slide right back down. It gracefully glided over the lake to dry land. It made another leap up the cliff, but the same results came out of it.

Ruby got over her shock and pulled out some paper and a pencil. She began drawing the dragon, not wanting to miss a single detail. Once she finished, she smiled at her drawing, but then frowned at one thing.

"Why doesn't he fly? It would seem a lot easier…" Ruby mused. She then realized one detail of her drawing was flawed.

One tail wing was missing.

She erased the tail wing, and resumed to the struggle of the dragon. The more she looked at it struggle, the more she had pity on it. It wasn't struggling to escape out of bloodlust or malice of any kind. She could tell from his eyes. The dragon was trying to escape because it was terrified, an emotion no Grimm has ever felt.

She then realized she was so lost in her thoughts that she had loosened her grip in her pencil, and it fell down the cliff. The dragon locked eyes with her, and they both stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Ruby thought the dragon would lunge at her and try to kill her in total vengeance, but it remained put, looking at her with those light emerald eyes. Sometimes, her gaze would drift to the tail again, and would realize that she was responsible for its fate. The dragon would see her gaze locked to it and move it, baring his teeth. She looked to the sun, and realized that she'd been there for too long. She gathered her items and headed out, looking back at the dragon one more time to see it still staring at her.

[Two hours later]

Ruby returned to Beacon after a few sketches of the Emerald Forest to see that the docks were now fully occupied by an Atlas fleet.

'What's Atlas doing here at this time of the year?' Ruby thought. She ran over to the others, who were also watching the air show. "Hey! What's going on?"

"No idea. They just appeared half an hour ago." Blake said.

"No need to worry, students." Ozpin said. "Atlas is simply supplying us for more relief efforts. Though, I do agree that such a fleet is a bit dramatic."

"He does have that flair about him." Yang said.

"However, there is a reason for the fleet as well." Ozpin said.

"Which is?" Weiss asked.

"A new threat has appeared on the mountain range. Swarms of Grimm appear to have congregated into one mountain, which is shrouded in a strangely thick fog. Ironwood thought it was necessary for us to take out this congregation as soon as possible." Ozpin explained.

"Oh. Yeah, that does seem rather bad." Ruby said.

"What kinds of Grimm are we talking here?" Yang asked.

"Any kind you can guess. Even exotic Grimm have grouped at the mountain. Though, I'd have to say aquatic Grimm are the only ones not affected by this." Ozpin said.

"At least there's no Sea Terrors." Yang said.

"Why are you telling us this?" Blake asked.

"It'll make explaining it to the other students easier." Ozpin said, then walking off to the docks.

"Oookay. Well, I guess we should leave the military stuff to the pros." Yang said.

"But just imagine what kinds of Grimm are out there! All kinds of exotic Grimm from all over Remnant, like the Scorchers in Vacuo, or the Avalanche Drones in Mantle! Oh, it'd be so cool to see one of those in person." Ruby said.

"And also extremely dangerous. Exotic Grimm are known for their extreme brutality, as well as frighteningly professional tactics in battle." Weiss said.

"Weiss fun police, on patrol." Yang said.

"All I'm saying is that this situation seems like no game, if what Ozpin says is true. And if Atlas is getting involved with fixing it, it MUST be huge." Weiss said.

"I have to agree with her. Atlas usually only comes to Vale for the Vytal Festival, and it's still five or six months away." Blake said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still though, there are some Grimm that you don't see everyday." Ruby said.

"Either way, we shouldn't get too involved with it unless we have to. Why don't we leave the military business to the military, and we can spend our vacation relaxing." Weiss said.

"Yeah, we had a rather stressful quarter, with the Breach and with Doctor Merlot just a few weeks ago. I'd say we deserve a break from hunting for a while." Yang said.

Later at night, Ruby sat in the library, doing a little research on Grimm. She wanted to see if there was any Grimm like the Night Fury. For a few reasons of her own. But she made other discoveries of Grimm she never knew before.

"Hmm… there sure are a lot of Grimm…" Ruby said, flipping through page after page. "Tyrants. Large T-Rex like Grimm capable of leveling a whole settlement alone. Never take it on alone, unless you wish to die." Ruby flipped to the next page. "Sea Terrors. Shark-like Grimm, crowned the terrors of the sea, commonplace in low populated docks and barges. Always bring a harpoon or cannon to sea." Ruby shivered at the image, meanwhile rain poured outside. "I hope he's alright out there." Ruby muttered, going to the next page. "Malice. A perfect name for such a monster. This Grimm charges into battle without hesitation, and is capable of taking multiple dust blasts before it dies. It takes the form of a boar, much like the Borbatusk, except much more savage in battle. Bring a group to take this Grimm down."

Ruby knew most of these Grimm would give her nightmares for weeks, but she kept on reading, until she came to one half blank page.

"Night Fury. Incarnation of Hatred and Hell itself. Never engage this creature in combat, as it is equally deadly in air and on ground. Your only chance: hide and pray to the gods it does not find you." Ruby read. The page contained no photo, except for a faint outline of it taken the night she felled it. She assumed it was from the airship that picked them up. She looked down at her sketch of the dragon, and still couldn't get her mind off of it. She knew the Night Fury had a soul, and she had hurt him. She couldn't live with herself knowing she hurt a living soul who had to live with that pain.

Her eyes then shot to a book on the shelf titled "Weapon Crafts: Wing Class". She knew it was meant for flight enabling weapons, but it was the perfect book for her plan.

She hurt the dragon. She was going to fix her mistake.

A/N

Sorry for the super long wait, but I had little motivation to do this story for a good while. But I pushed myself to do it, and here it is. I also put in a bit of an explanation as to why Atlas was at Vale this time, unlike the last time I tried this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and if you did, you know what to do. Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3: Bonds of a Beast

Chapter 3: Bonds of a Beast

Ruby put all of her focus onto this project, thankfully having the parts she needed to make it. The books detailing these designs helped immensely, and with the rough image she got from the dragon, she thought she could do it. That was, until she realized that she would need to get exact dimensions in order for it to work. And rough sketches didn't exactly serve very well for a reference. She then came to the conclusion that she would have to return to the dragon.

"I feel like it's immoral to just call it 'dragon'. I'll come up with a name for it on the way." Ruby said. "Of course, it's a Night Fury, so maybe something intimidating."

[30 minutes later, Emerald Lake]

"Maybe 'Lunar Rage'. No, that's stupid. Ugh, this is harder than I thought." Ruby sighed. "Maybe just Night Fury is good."

She rounded the corner, and finally came to the lake. She scanned the area, but found the Night Fury nowhere. She used her scythe to reach into the lake and scoop out a bass, mainly to use as bait. She tossed it out, but after a few seconds, the dragon didn't appear.

"It's never that easy." Ruby sighed, picking up the fish again, then moving out to the center. "Hello? Are you here?" Ruby called out. She was then answered when a swift shadow soared over her, then landed the Night Fury, only 30 feet away from her. It seemed angered at her return, but then it saw the food in her hand. She reached it out, and the dragon approached cautiously, but then bared its teeth at her, mainly looking at her scythe. She slowly took Crescent Rose off her belt, and tossed it on high land. The dragon seemed content, and sat down. Ruby reached out to it again, and it slowly approached her. But when it opened its mouth, no teeth were to be seen. "Huh. I could have sworn you had teeth be-" Ruby said, just before razor sharp teeth popped out of its gums and snatched the fish right from her hands, swallowing the fish with all but two bites. "Fore." Ruby said, slightly startled.

The dragon looked down on her, towering above her, but somehow, it wasn't as threatening as a normal Grimm. The dragon lowered itself and slowly crawled towards her.

"Uh, you want more fish? Sorry, but I can't really get more without my scythe." Ruby said, also backing up from the dragon. But the reaction was opposite of what she expected. And also more disgusting than she had hoped. The dragon coughed up and regurgitated the head of the fish onto her lap. "Okay, that's disgusting." Ruby gagged. But the dragon seemed more calm than normal, and sat in front of her. Their eyes locked for a solid half minute before the dragon nodded to the fish. "Oh, I get it." Ruby sighed. She picked up the fish head from her lap and raised it to her mouth. 'I never liked fish.' Ruby thought, but she strengthened her nerves and took a bite of it. The taste was what she expected, if not a bit worse. It took all her strength to not spit it out. She felt her whole body trying to push the horrid food from her mouth. She felt bile rise in her gullet, but she forced it down.

Though, the dragon still wasn't content. "Ugh, this guy is starting to get on my nerves." Ruby wanted to say, but she sighed, and forced herself to swallow the food, against all her body's better judgement. 'If I end up spending the night in the bathroom tonight, I blame him.' Ruby thought. But she forced a smile. The dragon turned its head at her gesture, and tried to copy it. The process was admittedly cute, as it slowly made a toothless smile. Ruby reached out to pet the dragon, but it bared its teeth and took off in a flash, almost as fast as Ruby.

She then remembered why she came here in the first place. She needed exact dimensions on the dragon's tail. She took out her scroll and went to the dragon, at a non-threatening distance. But the dragon seemed to know her approach, and curled up to sleep, using its tail as a blinder. Ruby steadies her camera and took a picture.

'I'll measure it out later.' Ruby thought. She walked away, but felt the dragon's piercing eyes gazing at her back. She looked back at it, but it looked away. 'He still doesn't trust me. But who am I to blame? I shot him down here, trapped him in a lake… This is why I must help him out of this.' She then realized that in order to even get near him, she'd need to grow their trust. "Maybe… Toothless. Yeah, a good misleading name." Ruby said to herself. She spent all day trying to approach Toothless, but he always would get away. Then at sunset, Toothless hung on a branch like a bat. He glanced at Ruby to see if she was approaching him once again, but instead saw her poking a stick in the dirt.

He came down and walked over, and saw her drawing in the dirt. He watched each movement of the stick, and then saw a beautiful sketch of him. He then walked off, tearing off a dead branch from a tree. He drew lots of… lines in the dirt. Ruby assumed the end design would mean something meaningful, perhaps its true name.

It didn't. It was just a scribble of random lines around Ruby. She tried to get a better angle to see if it spelt or meant something, but once she stepped on a line, Toothless snarled at her. She took her foot off of it, and he went back to normal. She quickly caught on. It was a test to see if she respected him. She stepped over the line, and maneuvered her way through the lines. Each one she could still feel Toothless's gaze fixed on her. And finally, she stepped over the last line, and felt the dragon's breath on her neck. She looked up, and Toothless showed no vicious nature, or any sort of malice. Instead, she saw compassion in its eyes.

She extended her hand to the dragon, but he sneered at her, baring teeth. She drew back, and Toothless's expression told her that he still did not fully trust her, and that he knew she did not fully trust him. So Ruby tested their trust, and extended her hand once again, this time not faltering. And Toothless saw this, as she extended her hand in absolute trust, but he also saw that she was truly sorry for her actions against him. And so Toothless forgave her, and placed his head into her hand. Ruby felt the touch of his skin, a rough surface, but at the same time, it was as warm as a heated blanket, which seemed to wash away her fear of the fearsome dragon. She looked to him, and saw her hand on his nose, with him closing his eyes with the same trust she showed. The connection broke, as Toothless took off.

Ruby headed back to Beacon, recovering Crescent Rose at the top of the cliff. She got exactly what she needed, and more.

Not only did she get all necessary requirements for a new tail wing, but she also befriended a dragon. Not something you hear on Remnant everyday.

[meanwhile, atop Beacon Tower]

"Do you believe that she is gathering the Grimm to assault the kingdom in one fell swoop?" Ozpin asked.

"What other explanation is there? If not that, then the biggest Grimm migration we've ever seen!" Ironwood said. "Oz, you know I wouldn't come here unless there was a great danger to the world."

"I know this. And I know that we should be discreet about this matter. If the people were to know what impending danger was to approach, it would cause chaos. And we all know what that will bring." Ozpin said.

"I know. But this is serious." Ironwood said.

"So am I. A display of power like this will not bring comfort. It would breed fear, and that's what she wants. However, if you feel that you must investigate this migration, then go ahead." Ozpin said.

"That's all I ask. I shall inform you if there is any concern in this Grimm nest." Ironwood said. He went down, leaving Ozpin to think to himself.

"No, there's no way she could anticipate something like that." Ozpin muttered.

A/N

Hey guys, sorry I was dead for a while! I have a thousand stories to write at once, and it's hard to keep up with every single one. I know, excuses, but hey, it's the truth. Anyway, enough of that, this story is revived, and I am determined to see it through to the end. And hopefully I can get through the second movie before HTTYD3 comes out next year. Then you can expect to see a continuation of this story. And hopefully not a complete butcher, which I seem to be amazing at. But leave a review of your thoughts, and PM me for any story ideas, whether it be a plot development different from the movie or if you want to have a funny line in the story, or anything in between.


	4. Chapter 4: Taking Flight

Chapter 4: Taking Flight

The tail wing was coming nicely. Ruby fitted a light, but thick sail to a frame, designed to be easy to carry, so that Toothless wouldn't struggle to keep his tail under his control. The straps she designed to be comfortable, so that Toothless doesn't scratch at it and cause it to tear and weaken. And lastly, there was distracting Toothless in order for her to actually fit the tail wing on, which she has already devised a plan for. She gathered a whole basket full of fish, since Toothless seemed to enjoy them. And it might deepen their bond a little bit, get Toothless to trust Ruby a bit more. With all said and done, she headed back to the Emerald Lake to treat Toothless to breakfast and a new tail.

She realized that there would be frequent scouts around these parts searching for small Grimm nests, due to the Grimm migration, so she would have to find a good hiding spot for the dragon in the lake. But she would find that hiding place after the tail is put on. She looked at the tail again to make sure it wasn't in bad shape. It was a tough brown leather with iron for the main body. She folded it again as she entered Emerald Lake, with a slight mist covering the lake.

"Toothless!" Ruby called out. He came out from behind a rock, yawning. "I brought breakfast." Ruby shook the basket, and Toothless woke up a bit. "Knew you'd like some early fish." Ruby laughed. She put the basket down and kicked it open, the fish pouring out. Toothless perked up at the veritable feast in front of him. "There's some bass in there, a few cooked salmon, and a couple other fish." Toothless dug in, meanwhile Ruby snuck behind.

She unfolded the tail, and unfastened the straps for the tail. She tried to put it next to Toothless's tail, but he moved. She tried again, moved again. And again, this time moving even further. Ruby grunted silently as she got on top of the tail to keep it down, but Toothless moved forward, making her fall over. 'Really feeling that friendship.' Ruby thought. She was now finally able to fit the tail on. Toothless perked up when he felt the tail get strapped on. Ruby worked to get it fastened tight, and when it was fitted on, she leaned back to see her work. She unfolded the wing a little. "Huh. Not a bad fit. I mean, they look to be the same si-" Ruby said, but then Toothless took off in an instant. Ruby barely kept a firm grip of the tail. But she saw one fatal flaw in her design. The tail was being kept down in the wind. And this caused Toothless to hurtle toward the lake.

Ruby then acted quickly to open up the wing. And the surge up was a complete jolt to Ruby, and to Toothless as well. They flew high into the air with speed equal to Ruby's. "Yes! It's working!" Ruby cheered. She then experimented. She turned the tail, and Toothless dove to the right. She straightened it out, and they flew level to the lake. The feeling of flying freely without the assist of machines was incredible, and with the feeling of the air hitting Ruby's back and making her hair fly, it was unequal. She would even go as far as to say it was divine. But Toothless made too sharp of a turn, which sent Ruby flying off. And in turn, it made a Toothless plummet to the lake.

It was there that both realized that this would not be the end. And so Ruby returned to Beacon to work more on the tail. She sketched out a plan for a seating that would support her weight and also leave Toothless comfortable. She would work on it the next day, but the next day was the end of spring break, so she would have less time to work on Toothless's gear.

'If anyone else found out about Toothless, they'd most likely try to kill him. I'll have to be careful when I work. Maybe make them think I'm working on Crescent Rose instead.' Ruby thought. Then she thought of something that's been scratching at her brain for so long. 'Is Toothless even a Grimm? His only resemblance of the Grimm is his black skin, but that's it. No red eyes, no red markings, no exterior bones, none of that. And I feel an aura from him, and no Grimm has a soul… right?' The more she thought on it, the more it made it seem the Grimm had a good side.

And that was a sentence Ruby thought would never be said, let alone thought. But at this point, it didn't seem too far off.

But she shook herself back to reality. The sun was getting low, and she should be getting back to her dorm. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. Between classes and making saddle, she wouldn't be seeing Toothless for a while. But it was necessary to not be too suspicious, and she WAS the leader of the team, and she had a duty to fulfill.

She also needed to think of how she would control the wing if she would be up front rather than on the tail. That, and she realized that controlling the wing is more difficult than she anticipated, so she would need to figure out the patterns on the shifts of the wing.

"Okay, so leather seems like a good material for the saddle, and maybe use the same straps. He didn't seem to have a problem with the straps on the wing. Oh boy, I have a lot to work ahead." Ruby sighed. After she decided on everything, she hid her written plans and went back to her dorm. When her team asked, she said she did a bit of a check up on her weapon.

The next day, classes went almost twice as slow for Ruby. It was almost like time itself was against her. It felt like an eternity before she had free time to work on her pet project. But she managed to gather the necessary materials fairly quickly, and without too much trouble. And with her quick fingers and a bit of craftsmanship practice, she was able to make a sturdy comfortable saddle. When she came to the Emerald Lake, Toothless seemed extra playful, and she had to play cat and mouse just to get the saddle on, which Toothless, thankfully, was willing to let her put on.

And he didn't seem to struggle to move with the saddle on, which was a bonus. Ruby connected a rope from the wing to her ankle, and they tested the saddle. It worked out fairly well, Toothless still being able to stay airborne while the saddle didn't move at all and while Ruby was still sitting comfortably.

Though, one flaw in the design is that Ruby forgot a harness to keep her on for sharp turns. Their short flight ended when Ruby pulled too hard on the rope, resulting in Toothless swerving to the right and leaving Ruby to land in the lake. Again.

"Alright, saddle is good on fitting and comfort, just need to find a way to keep me from flying off. Wouldn't be a good thing to fly off at a thousand feet in the air." Ruby said. She spent a while with Toothless before taking off the saddle and heading back to Beacon. There, she took a spare hook lying around and installed it into the saddle, while making a sturdy rope to fit on her belt. She tested, and the ring on the end of the rope fitted perfectly. "I also got to find a more effective way to control the wing. A rope doesn't seem to be the best way to keep flight."

With those plans in mind, she went back and thus ended another day. But the next day would be much worse.

[two days earlier]

Ironwood's fleet was now coming to the mountain, which was shrouded in a thick fog, too dense for their sensors to pick anything up. So they were now going to venture in blindly.

"Sir, are you sure we should go in? The area's known to be very dangerous at low altitudes." One of the pilots asked.

"If we allow for this threat to go unnoticed, we'll be letting Vale get ambushed. And if one kingdom goes down, the rest will surely follow." Ironwood said. "So keep current altitude. We can use the fog as cover. Just be cautious of obstacles."

"Understood. Maintaining current course." The pilot said. They flew into the fog, where the events and battle would go a mystery.

[present time]

Ruby awoke to the sound of what she thought of as a whale wheezing in pain. The others seemed to be awoken from the same noise. They all looked outside to see one of Ironwood's ships coming back, beaten and burned.

"Oh lord. What could've caused that?" Weiss said.

"Didn't Ironwood and his fleet go to that mountain a while back?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. Must've been those exotic Grimm." Yang said.

"But what kind of Grimm can breathe fire?" Blake asked.

"Wait, we fought one back in Forever Fall, remember? It was a Night Fury, right?" Yang said.

"If there's more Night Furies out there, we should get prepared. I feel that our encounter with it was a fluke victory." Blake said.

Ruby knew it was indeed a fluke victory, all things considered. But she didn't speak, since it would be a dead giveaway of her secret. But they got dressed, and went to the docks to help the wounded on board. Many of the huntsmen teams asked what happened, and finally, Ironwood spoke.

"What happened was a disaster. An underestimation of our enemy. Therefore, I have come to this conclusion: should any Huntsman team be willing to join in, we shall be embarking on another crusade to rid the eastern mountains of these Grimm." Ironwood said. He paused to let it sink in. "None will fault you for saying no. This is, of course, a dangerous task." Ironwood then left to tend to his wounded crew while the crowd dispersed.

"We should definitely help. They should get as many huntsmen working as possible." Yang said.

"Definitely. Any means of protecting our kingdom." Weiss nodded.

Meanwhile Blake pondered. "This seems a bit weird, if you ask me. First, the breach, then Doctor Merlot, then this. Is there a chance that all this is somehow connected?" Blake said.

"And then a Night Fury coming this far down. They usually appear in that one uninhabited continent next to Solitas. You know what, Blake is actually on to something. This is definitely more than a migration." Weiss said.

Ruby thought the same thing. All of this was too much to be a coincidence. Was Toothless part of something bigger? Was the Grimm migration just a ploy by the enemy to draw in their greatest fighters to cripple them? All these questions raced through her mind, but only few thoughts made sense. However, the crowd soon dispersed completely, as everyone went to classes, but the stress and mystery of the mountain remained, looming over everyone, teachers and staff included. They were buried up to their foreheads in questions about the migration, but they knew as much about the migration as everyone else. Ruby was especially stressed, because she knew this would mean extra patrols, and that meant more chances for Toothless to be discovered.

'I have less time than I thought. I need to work quicker.' Ruby thought. As soon as classes were finished, Ruby snuck away to work on a better controller for the wing. She approached a more complex attempt, and decided to use a ring that would fit around Toothless's leg, and would allow her to control the wing with motions of her foot, simply by tilting it a certain angle. A cable would connect the controller to the wing and allow her to control it with more ease. 'It's definitely more efficient than a rope.' Ruby thought. She finished a rough model of it, and carried both that and the saddle back to the lake. Thankfully, the ring fit perfectly. She ran the cable back to the tail, and made sure it didn't rub against Toothless, which would definitely wear out his scales.

She still wasn't sure if his species shedded their scales and grew new ones, so she wanted to be as careful as she could. But the wire seemed to connect well enough. She tested, and it was movable. They took to the air, and it seemed to keep it open. She flew them out, and the wing seemed to hold up more than perfectly. And Toothless didn't seem to struggle at all with keeping flight. She kept her scroll handy for marking down the positions of the wing, and what they did, from moving left, right, up, down, up faster, and down faster. And of course the basic position, going forward. Toothless seemed to fly as fast as Ruby could run, at least at with the right positioning of the wing.

This made Ruby wonder if Grimm had a semblance. If it was locked away by some form of greater power. But for the time being, it seemed only Toothless could access such power.

And regarding the wing, she saw it as sufficient enough for now. But she knew it wouldn't last forever, and planned to make extra features.

"I believe the end goal is to make it so that Toothless can fly without my help." Ruby said once they landed. "How's that sound, Toothless?" Toothless gave an approving smile. "Thought so." Ruby laughed, giving Toothless a rub on the head. She then took off back to Beacon, both happy with her semi-success and fearful for what events would follow.

The next day after classes, she didn't head to the workshop. Instead, she went to Professor Port or some questions.

"Miss Rose, if this involves the migration, I should tell you I know as much about it as everyone else." Port said.

"No, it's not that. It's… has anyone ever, I dunno… befriended a Grimm?" Ruby asked.

Port laughed. "A good joke, Miss Rose. There's never been a single person to have ever made friends with those beasts."

"But, say, someone managed to communicate to one." Ruby said.

"I'm certain Grimm use no language, other than their battle cries of course." Port responded.

"But if someone managed to wound one, but care for it? Would it accept their kindness, or would it continue to fight them?" Ruby asked.

"Miss Rose, where is this going?" Port asked.

"I just… I feel like maybe what we know of the Grimm is wrong somehow. I feel like we misunderstand them. That they aren't just bloodthirsty demons bent to destroy all life." Ruby said.

"Ah, you are just like your mother. I remember she asked me such questions when she attended Beacon. But sadly, I said the same thing to her. Any attempts to communicate to Grimm have ended in disaster. I remember Doctor Merlot also tried to convince the school of such ideals. Both him and Summer had the same idea that Grimm were misunderstood beasts. But I must tell you, Miss Rose. Forget that idea. Such ideals are what led Merlot to his asinine ideals and Summer to her untimely demise." Port explained. "And I do not want you to fall victim to such a fate."

Ruby sighed, and nodded. She headed back to the lake, but she still kept the idea in mind. She was convinced that Grimm had a good side, as all creatures do. But she never knew that her mother had the same idea that Grimm could be loving creatures. Doctor Merlot surely had that ideal too, all things considered. But it slightly irritated Ruby with everyone always talking about Summer, but always being so cryptic about it.

'Is Toothless the only Grimm with a soul?' Ruby thought to herself over and over. She spent the day bonding with Toothless, though Toothless could feel that Ruby wasn't herself. He nuzzled her and looked at her with a curious look. Ruby sighed. "I know, this isn't me. I'm sorry, buddy." Ruby rubbed his head as she sat on a stone. She placed her head in her hands, sighing aloud. Toothless nuzzled her again. Ruby smiled a bit. "At least I'll always have you to keep me up."

They took another flight test, tying a rope fast to the ground so they could stay put as they tested the tail positions. And for the most part, they were beginning to make something of it. Once they finished, they returned to the lake, where Toothless took shelter under a half rooted tree, where it would make him almost invisible to the scouts. But at the moment, she believed it was time tomorrow to test it for real.

A/N

These chapters are getting hard to write, so sorry for slow updates. But leave a review of what you thought, so I can improve future chapters, and maybe learn from my mistakes.


	5. Chapter 5: One Truth, One Lie

Chapter 5: One Truth, One Lie

The day finally came for Ruby and Toothless to test the full functionality of the new wing. They didn't waste any time, and took to the air. They went a distance where the scouts wouldn't go, just next to the mountain range. Ruby decided to stay low to the ground, soon slowly increasing altitude as they flew over the trees. After a few minutes, they decided it was safe to test it.

"Alright buddy, let's take this slow and steady." Ruby said. She set the tail into position as Toothless readied himself. They dove into a canyon, and flew through it with amazing speeds. As they approached the end, Ruby changed the position, and they were flung back into the air. "Alright, we're still good. Let's get a bit fast." Ruby smirked as she changed position again. Now they were going at a blurring pace. Toothless indeed could travel through the air as fast as Ruby could on land, and this made the pair perfect, as they were used to such speeds.

When they approached a mountain, they began going higher, higher, and higher yet. Ruby felt more alive than ever, to be level with the clouds and not fearing of being snatched by a Nevermore, and yet still going higher. It was different from initiation. Then, she was flung into a forest. Now, she was flying ten thousand feet above it, and still going higher. She laughed with such joy she's never felt before.

"This is amazing! The wind in my face, all of it! And the view!" Ruby whistled at the amazing view of Sanus. It spanned for miles, and she could see the edge of the ocean, where just beyond was Patch. She saw it all, beyond the mountains, and the edge of Mountain Glenn just beyond the mountains. Such a view could never be observed in a Bullhead, and it was more beautiful on the back of a dragon.

But as they dove down, her harness unhooked from the saddle, and she lost her grip. They began plummeting to the ground at an alarming rate.

"Stay calm, Toothless!" Ruby shouted, but Toothless began spinning out of control. Ruby tried to approach, but his tail slammed into her. She grabbed a hold of it, though, and made her way back to the saddle. She grabbed tight, and got her footing back, allowing her to expand the wing again. They glided down the side of the mountain at a quick pace, the wind making her vision blurred. Though at the bottom, she saw a span of rough obstacles.

She knew she didn't have time to look over her scroll for positions, and she didn't have time to think about any alternatives. She closed her scroll, and went in blindly. She changed positions rapidly, swerving through each rock pillar with grace. Each obstacle she passed made her heart pound even harder. Her vision cleared, and she saw the last one just ahead, and spun around it. After that, they were in the clear, and she laid back with a sigh of relief.

"Well, if I wasn't awake before, I sure am now." Ruby laughed. The sensation now was another new one. It was like she just had the battle of her life, but she never drew her weapon once. Her own weapon against this battle was her memory, and it served her well. But that wasn't what she was most happy about. It was the fact that she accomplished her goal.

She helped Toothless fly once again.

[Meanwhile, Beacon]

"Anyone else wondering where Ruby wanders off to every day?" Weiss asked.

"Ruby's strong enough to look after herself." Yang shrugged.

"I didn't ask that. I said it's odd that Ruby just seems to disappear every day after class." Weiss said.

"Yeah, it's a bit weird that she does that. It seemed to happen after that mission back at Forever Fall." Blake said.

"So what? She's probably just relaxing somewhere." Yang said.

"While also managing to make her clothes absolutely filthy? As if she rolled down a hill?" Weiss said.

"If she wants to keep secrets from us, fine. We have our own secrets yet to share, right?" Blake said.

"Who's side are you on?" Weiss asked, Blake shrugging.

"She is our leader, though. None of us can say with certainty how stressful that is. She probably needs to let off some of that stress." Blake said.

"I guess you're right. Still, I wish she's at least tell us where she goes every day." Weiss said.

"Maybe that's why. So that she won't be bothered. It kinda makes sense." Yang said.

[Meanwhile, on the coast of Sanus]

Ruby and Toothless were sitting on the beach, out of sight, looking at the setting sky as it turned to night. The color of the sky always was a beautiful sight, even on days of sorrow. But this sunset was especially beautiful, as clouds amplified the wonderful colors to a complete canvas of the coming night. As night would drain the color, the sunset gave one last glimpse of the color, to give meaning to work toward another day, to protect such a glorious sight. This is what Ruby believed, and this gave her determination to be a leader and a huntress. But no matter what, she always came back to it, whether she be stressed from a day of work, or if she was depressed from events unforeseen.

She never forgot the sunset, and the sunset always changed, as did the world, which continued to revolve around the sun, never letting such a beautiful sight die and fade away.

But as she stared to the sky, Toothless began snarling. Not at her, but at a Grimm approaching. Ruby reached for her scythe, but she saw something. This Beowolf was injured. And it was smaller than most Beowolves, which made it less threatening. But it seemed to whimper to her, as if asking her not to kill it, but to help it. She folded her scythe, and reached out to the Beowolf. She was cautious, however, since Grimm were known to be quite well with trickery. But this Beowolf didn't attack. Instead, it put its head to her hand. The fur was warm and soft, unexpected for a creature of death. But the bone outside was rough and cold. The Beowolf whimpered as she touched the bone. It was as if it was asking her to cure it of some disease.

So she showed kindness to the emotionless creature, and she ran her fingers through the Beowolf's fur, which seemed to soothe the beast. Its breathing became slow and calm, as the bones which stuck to the creature's skin vanished. The markings of the Grimm began to glow, and fade away. The eyes that used to glow with bloody fire now gleamed with intelligence and passiveness. It sniffed Ruby, then licked her, but it was a show of kindness and gratitude. Ruby smiled and pet the Beowolf more. It nestled its head onto her lap and closed its eyes in serenity.

"I feel like I should give you a name." Ruby said. "There are legends about you, the Beowolf species. I think I should name you after one of those. How about… Grendel." The Beowolf seemed content with the name, as Toothless sighed and curled up. "Oh, what? You feel left out?" He gave an uninterested look. "Come on, buddy." He sighed and moved over to Ruby to allow her to pet him. 'Welp, that makes three pets now. Next, we're gonna find out that Zwei is a Grimm.' Ruby thought. As the sun set past the mountains, Ruby mounted Toothless and let Grendel go. But Ruby was now in a self-conflict. Now she knew that Grimm had souls, buried in a sort of dark spell that made them savage.

And the worst part was that it was her job to kill them.

Sure, before she didn't have a problem with it, because she only thought them as mindless savages bent on destroying any at all life. But now her world seemed to turn upside down, and it only made it worse that she thought of how many Grimm not only she's killed, but how many Grimm have been killed in her time, and far before she existed.

Once they landed back in Emerald Lake, Toothless took to his shelter under the tree, as Ruby started back to Beacon. But she didn't anticipate the suspicion of her being gone after the sun set, and this made everything backfire on her. But she explained that she was just out watching the sun set, and lost track of time.

"You had us worried, you know. Try to keep a watch next time, Alright?" Yang said.

"Sure thing." Ruby said. But she knew she had to say her discovery somehow. But she knew if she said it outright, they'd start thinking her crazy. "But… I was thinking earlier today… what if the Grimm did have a soul?"

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"I mean… if they secretly did have a soul but couldn't show it, because they were being controlled." Ruby said.

"You sure have an imagination. I'm sure if the Grimm weren't soulless, we would've discovered that by now." Yang said.

"I heard Ironwood had made researches on aura, and he confirmed that Grimm have no aura, and that their defense only comes from thick hides and bones." Weiss said.

"God, can you imagine how difficult fighting Grimm would be in they had an aura?" Yang said.

"But what if their aura was being held back by some sort of dark spell?" Ruby insisted.

"Like magic? Sis, I think those fairy tales are getting to your head." Yang said.

"I think maybe some rest will do. It is pretty late." Blake said.

Ruby sighed. "Okay." She yawned as she curled up in her blanket, and the light went off. But though the others went to sleep, she was still awake. She thought of all the quick ways she's defeated Grimm, but she also thought of all those Grimm that were tortured before death's embrace, all the ones that had their limbs removed one by one before finally returning to the darkness. But she also came to the thought that made her stay awake for another half and hour. What if not all Grimm have a soul? What if only Toothless and Grendel had a soul? But she shook her head. 'If I could free Grendel, there must be more. I just have to keep trying.' She finally closed her eyes and slept.

[Meanwhile, deep within the mountain]

Grimm gathered in a swarm, like bees in their hive. The Great Grimm required no sustenance, but it took pleasure in the taste. And it became angry when it wasn't fed, and the Grimm, though savage, knew it would take that anger out on them, whether it be smushing them beneath its large feet, ripping them apart with its talons, or eating them whole. All fates were those that the Grimm wish not to experience. But one stood above, looking down upon the Great Grimm, who looked up to them, eyes fixed on the only one who didn't work, but still was more powerful.

"Soon, Grimm, you shall fly. Soon, you shall rain fire on those that try to destroy you, and you shall have a feast unlike anything you've ever tasted. Soon you will spread your wings of oblivion and bring death to all kingdoms. This, I promise you."


	6. Chapter 6: Truth's Reversal

Chapter 6

Truth's Reversal

The following days were rather hectic, as Ironwood, classic him, called for extra hands from both Vacuo and Mistral. He stated it was a kingdom wide danger, and not just for Vale. So you could imagine it as being like the Vytal Festival, minus the giant flying colosseum and other world-wide spectators. And also minus any fairgrounds.

This made Ruby a bit nervous, as it meant people might want relaxation, and look to the Emerald Forest for such a thing, and that's where both Toothless and Grendel are staying. And Ruby was sure they'd mistake them for hostile Grimm, as both of them would mistake the huntsmen as… huntsmen. So Ruby, whenever someone tried to mention going to the Emerald Lake, tried to sway them to visit another site in the Emerald Forest, which was usually as far away from the Lake as possible. Meanwhile she'd visit Toothless from time to time, to make sure he was alright in these wary times. Often times, Grendel would find his way to the lake, and the two would play together after Ruby left. And with matters worse, she often caught someone following her, so she's have to take a different route to shake them off of her.

But other than that, it was business as usual. But then one day came around, where everything changed.

The Atlas academy was holding a training regiment, with real Grimm. It was, of course, supported by some of the staff, and Professor Port was a main supplier of Grimm, as the school had a small storage of them for training purposes. Though some huntsmen would go out into the Emerald Forest to catch a Beowolf or two. Or, if they were lucky, a King Taijitu or a DeathStalker. Those times made for an interesting round. But it soon went from a training regiment to a full blown contest, as the students often did with such an event. The winner would test their strength by fighting a Nevermore alone, which, in terms of the students, was a sheer proof of absolute skill and strength.

But so far, Ruby had only had to kill one Grimm. As far as the other ones, she found ways to pacify them, then locked them back up, mainly to only be killed by another Huntsman. But she did so anyway, if only to make her feel better about letting them live for a while longer. Sometimes she would sneak it out back to the Emerald Forest. They had enough Grimm, it wasn't as if they were counting. But the contest was always measured on aura level, and- not on her own will, understand- Ruby managed to be the last one left. Even beating some of the upper classmates.

"It is determined! Tomorrow morning, Ruby Rose shall single handedly take on one of the most deadly Grimm, the Nevermore!" One of the staff exclaimed. The crowd roared with cheers. Her team roared the loudest, especially Yang. But the only one not celebrating was Ruby. After the festivities were done, she darted back to the lake.

"Hey buddy. Pack your things, we're leaving. Forever. To where, you ask? I dunno, maybe Mistral. There's enough places to hide there." Ruby said.

"An odd place to call in a Bullhead." Ruby heard. She jumped and saw Weiss at the entrance to the lake.

"Ah! Uh, what- what, are you doing here?" Ruby exclaimed.

"You always wander away from training. Every day. I wanna know what's up." Weiss said.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing at all! Just, you know, enjoying the view here- nothing more! Definitely no one else here but me… and, you know, you now." Ruby said.

"You…" Weiss squinted at her, "are acting really strange. What are you hiding?"

"Hiding? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Certainly not a-" Ruby sad, then a rustling behind her. "Oh boy."

Weiss's eyes widened as she took out Myrtenaster. "Ruby. Toward me."

"Okay, this actually looks worse than it actually is." Ruby said. Toothless then barreled toward Weiss. "Wait, no!" Ruby pushed away Weiss before either of them could kill each other. She then calmed Toothless, but his teeth were still barred. "Toothless, easy buddy. She's a friend."

"Ruby, get away from it! It's going to kill you!" Weiss shouted.

"No, it's fine Weiss. He's a good one. Remember that Night Fury we shot down a month ago?" Ruby said.

"That's a Night Fury?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Uh, let me. Weiss, Toothless. Toothless, Weiss." Ruby said, but Toothless wasn't nearly as friendly, as he bared his teeth at Weiss and snarled.

"You're insane." Weiss said, picking up her rapier and rushing off.

"Welp, we're dead." Ruby sighed. "So how about that vacation plan to Mistral?" But Toothless wasn't easily convinced, as he trudged off. "Hey, where are you going?" He then gestured her to get on. "Right, I know. Convince her like you convinced me."

Meanwhile, Weiss ran as fast as she could. 'She's gone crazy. And that Grimm… why'd she protect it? And why didn't it try to kill her?' Weiss wondered. But in her thoughts, she didn't notice a set of talons take her by the shoulders. And she was launched into the air, unable to reach her rapier. "Oh Dust, this is the end!" Weiss screamed. But she was placed on a branch of a tree as Toothless landed on top.

She squirmed and struggled to get up. "RUBY! Get me down from here!" Weiss shouted.

"Not until you give me a chance to explain this. Because, yes, it is very confusing." Ruby said.

"I'm not listening to you! This is all crazy!" Weiss yelled.

"Okay, Yes, you're right, it is crazy. But at least let me try. At least let me show you." Ruby said. She reached out to her hand, as Weiss looked to the ground.

'Do I want to fall and break my legs or take my chances with this… thing?' Weiss thought. She sighed. She climbed up the branch and made her way to the dragon. She was careful not to do anything to make the dragon angry, or even worse, anything to lose her footing. She carefully mounted the dragon, sitting just behind Ruby. "Okay. Now let me down."

"Toothless, please fly us back to the ground." Ruby said calmly. Toothless expanded his wings fully, the tree cracking as it bent back up. "See? It's perfectly fine." But as Toothless cracked the bones in his neck, he darted toward the sky in blinding speed, forcing Weiss to hold on tightly so she wouldn't fall off. She knew her glyphs could save her from a fall, but not from one this high. As they leveled, she put her arms around Ruby, as it was safer than relying on her grip on something as thin as a saddle.

"Uh, sorry. He's not usually this fast on his own." Ruby said. They then dove for the mountains, going through a narrow pass, one rock nearly taking Weiss's head off. "Toothless, stop doing this! The point is to get her to like us!" Toothless's good decision was to fly out of the pass. The bad decision was to spin rapidly. "Thank you for nothing, you useless Grimm." Ruby sighed as they barreled toward the ground, the whole sky an absolute blur, as was everything around them.

"I'm sorry! Please just get me off this thing!" Weiss screamed. Toothless heard her cries, and like an angel, he forgave her, and they stopped spinning, and Toothless came to a peaceful glide. Weiss opened her eyes to see them now inches from the clouds. The harsh winds that once tormented her now settled to a gentle breeze. Her hair glided as smoothly as the dragon flew, waving as if it was a part of the clouds. Her eyes then snapped to the sun, which reflected across the clouds in which they now flew in. If it were in an airship, Weiss would've thought nothing of it. But somehow, gliding on the back of an airborne Grimm was infinitely more beautiful.

They flew for what seemed to be hours, as the shattered moon glowed on the clouds as they surfaced from them. It made the dragon's scales glitter and shine, as if he never was a vicious beast, with such light shining from him. And when the clouds cleared, Weiss saw Vale from the sky, spanning around the ground. And the sight of Beacon from the sky with no abstractions was a sight rarely seen. The mountains amplified the beauty of it all, the cold tipped peaks, which glinted like perfectly white teeth, made the continent look like a severed jaw, which connected to the old land, as if an ancient titan was slain, and formed the world of Remnant, creating the continents of today. She took it all in, and she sighed in relaxation.

"Wow. This is… amazing." Weiss said. She patted Toothless's neck gently. "He's even more so." Toothless looked at her with a smile and with gentle green eyes. "So… is he really a Grimm?"

Ruby sighed. "Yes. He is. There's also another Grimm out there who's friendly. But from my guesses, all Grimm have a soul, locked beneath some sort of hatred spell, as if they want to be friends with man, but the spell makes them think that man wants them dead."

"So that's why you asked us that question that night. I wondered why you would think that, but… now it makes sense." Weiss said.

"I hope we can at least find out where it comes fro-" Ruby said, but then Toothless darted down. They were suddenly surrounded in fog, so thick it was hard to see three feet in front of them. But Toothless glided through it so fast, it was as if he remembered the path from memory. "Toothless, where are we?" Ruby whispered, but Toothless shook her hand off. Weiss gasped.

"Ruby, look." Weiss said. Ruby looked where Weiss was pointing, and she saw that, not only were they now flying at near ground level, but also that hundreds, if not thousands of Grimm were rushing in the same direction, except for the rare occasion of the one heading in the opposite direction, perhaps for a hunt, or perhaps because of instinct.

Whatever the reason, the Grimm kept going. And soon they came to a mountain, completely clouded in a thick dome of fog, unseen to the outside world. They entered the mountain through a narrow crevice, coming into a large pit with a crimson red glow to it. The Grimm huddled around it as Toothless flew out of sight of the pit. "What is this place?" Ruby wondered. They then saw the Grimm throwing their game into the pit, none of them even taking a small bite. Down, down, deep into the hole it went, never to be seen again by any creature, soulless or not. And more, more came along with it, almost this never ending cycle of tossing and sacrificing, almost Satanic. "Well, it's good to know that our fallen friends end up in a bottomless pit." Ruby said.

"I understand Grimm don't starve, but why are they just…" Weiss wondered. Then a Grimm came to the pit, with nothing. The ground shook violently. A pitch black paw rose from the pit as it grasped the Grimm, not killing it. Then a head, a horrific head. It had three eyes on each side, which gleamed with hatred flames, unending. The teeth expanded to the neck like a sick abomination of a demon, as it swallowed the Grimm, with one bite. "What the f-" Weiss almost swore as the Grimm glared in their direction. It seemed to try to speak, and it made Toothless freeze up, his eyes wide in terror.

"Toothless, we gotta go." Ruby said. The Grimm began to rise from the pit. The body was even more horrific, with bones coming from each limb, one bone being split in two, likely from another battle which it took part in, which must've been millenniums ago, as it was fat and bulky, a slow starter to be sure. Toothless unfroze just in time, and took to the sky as soon as it snapped at them. They flew out from the top, and escaped its wrath. Though, the roar of the beast would stick with them in their nightmares for a good few weeks.

They wasted no time in returning to the lake, their hearts still beating fast.

"What… was that thing?" Weiss breathed as they got off.

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, the books in Beacon make no mention of it." Ruby said.

"And why did he just freeze up on seeing that thing?" Weiss asked.

Toothless lowered his head as Ruby slid her hand across his neck. "My Guess is… maybe that Grimm is controlling the other Grimm. Maybe it controls the weaker Grimm to do its bidding." Ruby said.

"How does that make sense?" Weiss asked.

"How else would Toothless be able to navigate the fog so perfectly on his own?" Ruby responded. Weiss sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. We have to tell Ozpin about this." Weiss said.

"No! If we tell them, they'll know we're hiding something. They'll kill Toothless." Ruby said.

"So, what? We have to keep the greatest discovery of the year a secret just to protect, what, your pet Grimm?" Weiss asked.

Ruby looked back at her, dead in the eye, without a trace of irony or sarcasm in her face. "Yes."

Weiss saw that Ruby wasn't going to change her mind anytime soon. And that made her all the more scared of that fact, that if someone found out about this, they would probably die along with Toothless. But Weiss knew the beauty inside of Toothless, and didn't want any bad to come to him. And that just made the guilt rise in her, that she could be responsible for his death, and possibly Ruby's and her own.

"Alright then. What about tomorrow? Don't forget you have to take on a Nevermore alone." Weiss said.

"I befriended Toothless and Grendel. I just hope this Grimm isn't too stubborn." Ruby said.

"Wait… Grendel?" Weiss asked. Then a Beowolf came from the tree, as Weiss instinctively reached for her rapier. But it didn't attack, but instead went to Toothless to play, but he wasn't in the mood.

"Yeah. I may have helped a Beowolf become… not a Grimm." Ruby said.

"This… goes completely contrary to everything we believed. I can't believe it." Weiss said.

"I know. But we have to find a way to show the school...s. Plural." Ruby said.

"Show then what? That the monsters we fought are secretly kind creatures trapped in a dark magic making them hostile?" Weiss asked.

"Something like that. It's a crazy plan, I know. And I know it's not my first. But I have to try." Ruby said.

Weiss nodded. "Alright then." Weiss then punched Ruby's arm. "That's for taking me against my will."

"Fair enough." Ruby shrugged. Then Weiss hugged her.

"That's for the flight." Weiss said.

"Yeah… no problem." Ruby said. Weiss then left, going back to Beacon. Toothless gave her a glance, along with a raised eye. "Stop thinking that." Ruby said. Toothless looked away at that, heading back to his tree. Grendel came up to Ruby and leaned over, basically saying he'll give Ruby a ride back. But dread filled her. She knew that now she showed the kindness in the Grimm to Weiss, she wouldn't spill the beans(hopefully), but it still remained a fact that she just put another life in danger. When they came close to Beacon, she got off Grendel, and gave him a pat on the head as he bound back into the forest.

But what filled her more with dread was that tomorrow, she'd have to either show everyone an impossible truth, or give up her innocence and kill another soul.

'But I have to try. It's going to be absolutely crazy, but I have to at least try to show them. And if the Nevermore turns out to be bad… no, stop it, Ruby. I will save it. I swear it!'

[bonus segment, the Grimm hive]

"So they were here. Then they should be here again soon. But not to worry, as you…" she looked down to the bottomless pit, where the Grimm beast rose up, looking at her. "You have the strength to wipe them out. They are the flame. And you are the breath that will snuff it out."


	7. Chapter 7: The Faded Truth

Chapter 7

The Faded Truth

Silence. For that was all to be had in the rising sun. The birds began to chirp their joyous morning songs, filling the air with a sense of hope and compassion, and students awoke to such a wonderful tune. They were all anticipating the long awaited day, a day that would bring yet another victory to Beacon- the day Ruby Rose killed a Nevermore. But of course, some were expecting the young huntress to mess up, allowing them to step in and kill the beast themselves. Killing a Grimm as strong as a Nevermore alone was a great honor for the youth, and even more so for those that wish to prove themselves. It showed independence, as well as true leadership.

Which is why it was a great opportunity for Ruby, in the eyes of her teammates and friends. But Ruby only saw it as one thing: a chance to prove all the theories- everything they thought they knew about the Grimm- to be the complete opposite. That they did have a soul. That the Grimm could be peaceful if they tried.

But then what? Ruby had to wonder to herself. If she really did show them all the other side of the Grimm, what then? Would they accept that fact, or kill her at the stake for witchcraft? Even Ruby- even after everything she's seen- she still didn't fully believe in magic, or anything related to it. Semblances and auras were different- they were manifestations of their souls, able to accomplish god-like feats. But magic seemed just so far fetched to her still, even with the discovery of that Grimm.

Even after what happened with Toothless and Grendel. But she already had her mind set since she left the Grimm hive. She knew what must be done. Though the thought made her uneasy.

She polished her weapon in the lockers, a backup plan in case everything went wrong. She beat a Nevermore before on initiation day, so she knew she could take it on. It was just the feeling of having everyone watch her take on a beast like that that made her feel sick in the stomach.

"I have no idea how I'm gonna do this." Ruby sighed. Weiss put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright. If the Nevermore gets out of hand, I'll do my best to help you." Weiss said, reassuring Ruby.

"Nice to know you got my back this time. But… that's not why I'm scared." Ruby said, sliding Weiss's hand off of her shoulder. "It's just… how am I gonna do it? How am I going to show them that Grimm aren't…"

"You showed me that truth. If you can do that to me, you can show it to the rest of the world." Weiss said.

Ruby holstered her weapon. "I hope you're right." She said as she stood up.

"Come on, Ruby! Stage is set!" Yang called out from the hall. Ruby exhaled nervously. Her whole body shook with anticipation.

"This is it." Ruby said shakily. She exited the locker room as Yang patted her on the back.

"Knock 'em dead, sis." Yang said with a wide smile. Ruby returned it with a half hearted smile of her own. She stepped out to the arena, which had a roughly made cage on top to protect the audience, which roared with cheers when she came out. She took Crescent Rose out and spun it around, which unfolded into a full scythe. She cocked the chamber, to show she was ready. The end of the stage then opened, to reveal a large Nevermore that swooped at Ruby, but she dodged the strike quickly.

They were now on opposite sides. The crowd then went almost completely silent. The event's anticipation even brought Ozpin, as well as Ironwood.

But through the crowd's small talking, telling Ruby to slice its throat or to rip its wings off, Ruby planted her scythe in the ground. The crowd muttered in question of her actions. The teachers grew a face of concern now.

"Don't worry, it's alright." Ruby said, both directing her words at the audience and the Nevermore. The crowd continued to tell her to slice its throat, but the chanting halted when Ruby unsheathed her knife. "I won't fight you." She then tossed it next to Crescent Rose. The Nevermore looked at her with a strange eye. Ruby approached closer.

"Stop the fight, she'll get herself killed." Ironwood demanded to Ozpin.

"Wait." Ozpin said, holding his hand up. "I've never seen a Nevermore behave like this."

"I've found it out. The Grimm have souls." Ruby announced to the audience. "We don't have to kill them." Her hand grew closer to the Nevermore's beak. But inside the Nevermore's head, a high pitched noise sounded, and it snapped back at Ruby. She jumped back, running for her weapon, but the Grimm got in the way. It roared at Ruby as she stumbled back.

"Stop the fight!" Ironwood demanded. "Raise the bars, get her out of there!"

"Uh, we made it so the bars can't be lifted, so…" a student said.

"Dammit. Kill that Grimm then!" Ironwood demanded. But Ruby was barely staying alive, just barely staying away from the Grimm. Weiss created a glyph to stop the Nevermore when Ruby didn't get away in time.

"Get out of there, Ruby!" Weiss shouted.

"There's no exit!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Someone raise the gate!" Yang shouted. But when they tried to raise the gate, the Nevermore would try to escape as well, forcing them to shut it again.

A Grimm entered the school. It raced for the arena room. But the doors were shut.

From the arena, a blast could be heard. And soon after, a high pitched sound. It came closer, and soon ended with a large blast that shattered the cage. A black figure entered the arena when the Nevermore almost had Ruby. Smoke blinded the arena, making it hard to see the inside of it. But the smoke cleared, and the Nevermore was seen wrestling another Grimm. All the teachers stood up in surprise.

"A Night Fury?!" Glynda exclaimed.

"How did it get in?" Ironwood asked.

But Toothless didn't let up, and pressed the Nevermore back as the Grimm cage door opened, and Toothless roared violently at the Grimm as it backed away into the cage in freight. But now Huntsmen were climbing into the arena to fight the Night Fury.

"Toothless, we gotta go!" Ruby exclaimed. But Toothless didn't budge, and swatted away two Huntsmen and head butted another. Then Yang charged at him, and a Toothless tacked her and held her down. His mouth opened to spit fire at her. "TOOTHLESS, NO!" Ruby shouted.

The dragon heard her cry, and swallowed the fire. He now saw that his actions were wrong. He should've ran away. But by that time, it was too late. They had already restrained the dragon, and were ready to kill it.

"No, don't hurt him! Please!" Ruby begged. Ironwood stepped in, and stopped them from killing it.

"Cage it, we need to research it." Ironwood declared. He then looked at Ruby. "Ozpin would like to see you." He said sternly. Ruby's worst fear was now realized.

Later, Ruby came to Ozpin's office, which had Glynda, Ironwood, and Ozpin gathered in there.

"How did you control that Grimm? You told it not to kill, and it obeyed." Ironwood said.

"It wasn't like the other Grimm, he was just protecting me!" Ruby said.

"Why would a Grimm protect anyone?" Ironwood wondered.

"Look, be mad at me, blame it all on me- but please, just don't hurt Toothless." Ruby begged.

"The Grimm? Why would you defend it? They killed thousands of us!" Ironwood stomped.

"And we've killed millions of them!" Ruby shouted. She then calmed a bit. "Look, the Grimm only kill us because they're… under some sort of spell. If they don't do what they're supposed to do, they'll be killed themselves! In their hive is some sort of ancient Gri-"

"You say hive. So you've been through the fog." Ozpin interrupted.

"Did I say hive?" Ruby felt her heart drop.

"How did you navigate it?" Ironwood demanded.

"I-I didn't! Toothless did! Only Grimm can navigate their way through the fog!" Ruby said. She realized what she said now, and dreaded ever saying anything.

"I'll make preparations, Ozpin." Ironwood said.

"Wait, no. No, you can't! The hive has a Grimm we've never even seen before, it'll kill everyone!" Ruby said as Ironwood went to the elevator, completely disregarding Ruby's words.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose. But it's clear that you have sided with the Grimm. Therefore…" Ozpin stood now. "I apologize to say you've been expelled."

If Ruby's heart wasn't at her boots before, it was now. "What?"

"We can't take the risk of others siding with her. I'm sorry." Ozpin said, him and Glynda taking the elevator. Though Glynda seemed to be the least enthusiastic about her joining Beacon before, she seemed to now be the saddest to see her leave. Ruby felt a tear run down her cheek. She'd now lost everything, probably even her team. The truth she tried to reveal only became even more faded from sight.

The ships boarded any Huntsmen they could take, as well as the main ship taking Toothless, who was bound in a cage, unable to free himself no matter how much he struggled. He was also muzzled, so he couldn't breathe any fire. Ruby watched from a distance as the ship's took off to the mountains, to where she knew they would all meet their doom, if no one intervened.

After a while, Weiss decided to join Ruby, though they both sat in silence.

Finally, Weiss spoke. "So you really got expelled?"

"Yeah." Ruby sighed.

"Wow. I, Uh…" Weiss tried to find the words.

"It's fine. I'm fine." Ruby said.

"You're not fine. The Ruby I know wouldn't sit around while people go off to die." Weiss said, locking her eyes with Ruby's. "So what are you going to do?"

"Would you follow me? Technically I'm not leader of team RWBY anymore." Ruby said.

"And technically school's not in session. So what are you going to do?" Weiss asked.

"I dunno. Probably something insane." Ruby shrugged.

"Already did that two hours ago." Weiss said.

"Then something stupid." Ruby said more confidently.

"That's better." Weiss said. She then smiled. "Welcome back, leader."

Ruby accepted her smile with one of her own, as they dashed off to gather all of the remaining students in Beacon. Namely, Yang, Blake, and team JNPR. Ruby already had a plan worked out, but it wouldn't carry through unless they all worked together, which was something Ruby was willing to gamble on.

The ships maneuvered through the jagged spikes, which spelled the doom of many other ships before them. But Toothless- not on his own will, mind- guided them through each rock, each crevice. Strangely, no Grimm was to be seen. Though they had prepared to deal with a hundred of them.

"Something isn't right. I feel we should be extra cautious. Especially when we get to the hive." Oobleck stated.

"Acknowledged. We'll set up extra defenses when we arrive." Ironwood said.

"Sir, we don't have the supplies to set up extra defenses." One of the soldiers said.

"Then we'll use the natural defenses. Set up anywhere you can, and make it as secure as possible." Ironwood stomped. The soldier saluted and went off. It was not late after that Toothless began to wrestle against the restraints furiously, as if trying to fight something. The fog then cleared, and they saw the mountain. They all got off the ship, and started making preparations for the battle ahead.

Though what would come next, no one could ever have anticipated.

A/N

Sorry for being on a hiatus… again. With school events getting in the way, and not a whole lot of motivation(or inspiration at that), it makes it hard to continue this story. But I pushed past it, and am resuming this story. And if you're worried about this just becoming the normal plot of HTTYD, don't worry, I got a special little twist coming up. So stay tuned for that, and I am still considering doing the RWBY version of HTTYD2, so let me know if that's something you'd all be interested in. But I think that's all I wanted to say for now. Remember to leave a review and all of that jazz.


	8. Chapter 8: Free of the Bonds

Chapter 8

Free of the Bonds

Ruby slowly backed up, careful not to redirect her eyes. Everyone watched in awe at how Ruby was able to keep a Grimm tamed with no weapon but her own hands. She placed her hand on the beak, and it hummed with serenity, and the markings that once glowed with eternal hatred now faded into the air, and the beast was free of the evil curse. The bones that tortured the creature now faded to dust, never to torment anyone else. She motioned for someone to come forward.

So Jayne approached, reaching out to the Nevermore slowly. Ruby helped guide his hand, showing the Nevermore that he was a friend.

"Wow. This is amazing, Ruby." Jaune said in awe. The Nevermore rubbed up against Jaune, which he patted the neck of the tamed Grimm softly.

"It's even more amazing on it." Ruby said.

"So what is the plan?" Ren asked.

"We're going after that Grimm. But I can't do it without your help." Ruby said. She looked to everyone gathered for confirmation.

"It… just seems so crazy. It's hard to grasp." Pyrrha finally said.

"Yeah, it is. It was hard for me to grasp too at first. But if we don't act, everyone at the mountain will die." Ruby explained. Blake then stepped up.

"If it's to save lives, then I'm willing to work with the enemy." Blake said.

"I wouldn't exactly word it like that, but yeah, I'm in." Yang agreed.

"Then you'll need someone to watch your backs." Ren said reassuringly.

"Yeah, friends gotta stick together! We'll have your backs against that thing!" Nora exclaimed, pounding her fists in anticipation.

"I'm still not sure about all this, but if you say that people are in danger, then I'll be willing to fight alongside you." Jaune said.

"Couldn't word it any better, Jaune." Pyrrha nodded.

"So what now?" Weiss asked. Ruby looked among her friends, and she saw absolute loyalty, in the face of almost certain death. Though she knew their support would ensure their victory, she also knew that she would be sending them to what would probably be their deaths.

"Well, we'll need something to hold on to." Ruby said.

Metal spikes were set firmly into the ground as explosive Dust cannons were loaded and aimed at the weakest point in the mountain. Meanwhile others set traps further up the battlefield. Their plan was ready to be set into motion. Ironwood raised his hand, then folded it to a fist. The cannons fired, all of the masses of blazing hot Dust crashing into the same spot, which collapsed the wall completely, revealing a dark cavern. Everyone held their weapons, almost shaking in anticipation for the oncoming fight. But when they looked in the cave, there were no Grimm to be seen.

"Looks like they went packing!" Port laughed.

"From footprints, they left in quite the hurry. I believe the kingdom is safe now." Oobleck said.

"I'm glad this took little trouble. Though I must say-" Ironwood said, his words cut off from the ground shaking violently. As loud crash was heard, and it echoed through the cavern. Another shake, and another loud crash. Toothless could be heard from the ship, wailing and trying to escape. Even through the muzzle, he could be heard.

Another quake, this time even more violent. People began to retreat as the mountain began to crumble. And from to came a beast beyond any of their comprehension, a behemoth straight from a huntsman's worst nightmare. It towered at over 6 stories tall, with wings twice the length, and it had bones poking out from every joint, some split and some shorter than others. This Grimm had clearly seen battle, and from the hardened blood on its claws, it had killed hundreds of humans.

They fired everything they had, and the spikes blunted when it stepped on them. The cannons were easily destroyed by it as it simply stomped on them. The Huntsmen quickly realized that this was a lost cause, and began to retreat. But none of them could navigate the fog, and none dared to attempt to cross the sea of fog.

The behemoth tore apart the ships, and they saw it was far more capable of destruction than any other Grimm, as it breathed blazing flames across the battlefield. This beast clearly knew no mercy, and it knew no honor as it obliterated the huntsmens' only chance of survival. And they would've been done for, as it rose up to finish them all off, but not before a large black feather flew into its gullet and made it cough, stopping the fire from bursting out.

Above flew the students that didn't come with the fleet, most being carried by Nevermores, which was free of the dark bonds. And the Grimm beast was too weak now to put the curse back onto the Grimm. The Nevermores swooped down and landed a large series of Grimm, including a King Tijitu, Grendel, a DeathStalker, and an Ursa. On the back of Grendel was Weiss and Ruby, the Nevermore carried Yang, the King Tijitu had Ren and Nora, on the DeathStalker was Jaune and Pyrrha, and Blake rode atop the Ursa.

Yang provided another distraction and the Nevermore fired a barrage of feathers at the Dragon, which bounced off the body.

"News flash, this thing has some girth. Plan?" Yang asked over the Scroll.

"We have to try and weaken it. Ren, Nora, try and clip its claws. Make its feet less of a threat. Jaune, Pyrrha, you two draw it's fire, make sure it stays away from the Huntsmen as they evacuate." Ruby ordered. Team JNPR went to work immediately.

"What about us?" Blake asked.

"I want you to attack the feet. If we can at least weaken it, then it'll be a little easier for us. Yang, keep hammering on top." Ruby said.

"My specialty!" Yang said as she jumped to the top, and unloaded as much as she could.

"Weiss, our objective is to find Toothless. If I can draw it away from here, it may give us a chance to evacuate the others. That is our current objective right now. Hit the dragon hard and get everyone out of here safely." Ruby said.

"Got it!" Everyone said as they went to their mission. Nora was able to use the momentum of the Tijitu to hammer off one claw from the front foot. The beast roared in pain as Ren used his momentum combined with the Tijitu's to chop two claws off.

"This kitty's gonna be declawed today!" Nora shouted as she hammered another claw. The beast stomped around them, but the two were much faster than the behemoth. They taunted the giant Grimm, which enraged it even more as it spewed fire at them, which they narrowly avoided. Meanwhile Blake softened the legs with multiple attacks from both her and the Ursa. And Yang and the Nevermore used everything they had to soften the back. The plan was working so far, as Weiss steered Grendel through ship after ship, until they finally found a cage with Toothless, which was surrounded by flames.

"There!" Ruby exclaimed. Weiss brought Ruby close as she jumped down to Toothless, who tried to escape by slamming the cage door. "Weiss, go help the others! I'll get Toothless!" Ruby shouted over the fire. Weiss nodded as she jumped off the ship and went for the beast.

The dragon now swiped at the ground, trying to kill its attackers, but always missing its mark. Eventually, however, it grew tired of the Huntsmen, and unleashed a massive inferno from its gullet, setting everything in front of it ablaze. Including the ship Ruby was on, which plummeted to the ground. Ruby's leg got stuck under a pipe, and she struggled to move as another pipe fell on her back.

She grunted to keep the pipe from crushing her, which it taunted her in doing. It creaked and groaned, as Toothless was now safer from the flames, but still thrashing to escape his prison to aid Ruby. But it was futile, as Ruby's aura was becoming weak. But then something grabbed her, and she was pulled from the wreckage. Ruby was blinded for a second, then saw the ship in a wreck, and Ironwood leaping through the inferno. Now he stood in front of Toothless's cage, and they both stared.

Then Ironwood punched the gate open, and removed the muzzle from a Toothless. He didn't waste another second as Toothless leaped from the cage and flew both himself and Ironwood out of the inferno.

After dropping Ironwood, the dragon gestured for Ruby to get on. She nodded, and mounted him, but not before looking back at Ironwood.

"Thank you, sir." Ruby said with the utmost sincerity.

"You're a good fighter, and an even brighter mind. Give that monster everything you got." Ironwood said.

Ruby nodded. "Toothless and I will give it our all."

And with that, they took off to the sky. Once again, her heart soared, the air once foreign to her now under her rule, along with Toothless. It almost seemed as if the world itself bended to her will, and she took in every second, in absolute wonder of the sensation.

But she forgot not the mission, and saw that Weiss and Grendel were in the grasp of the behemoth. Toothless charged a blast, and picked up amazing speed, almost blinding as he fired a blast of purple flames into the behemoth's arm, which made it drop Weiss and Grendel. She made a glyph for her and Grendel, and landed them safely next to the other Huntsmen. She then heard Ruby over the Scroll.

"Get the others to safety. This guy's mine now." Ruby said.

"Right." Weiss said, nodding. "Everyone, evacuate this side of the mountain! This is about to be a killzone!" Weiss shouted. Everyone ran as fast as they could, and heard the Night Fury's blast charging again. They all took cover as the blast heavily impacted the behemoth. The ground shook as the monster of a Grimm slammed to the ground.

"Did it work?" Ruby asked Toothless as they flew over. Smoke covered the monster, but through it came a giant wing. "That's a no. Alright buddy, plan B. Lead the dragon away from the mountain at least."

Toothless nodded as they took off, fast as light. The behemoth, which would be later named the Black Death, took after the two.

"Well, we definitely got his attention!" Ruby exclaimed as a pillar of fire just barely missed them. Ruby now realized that Toothless's tail was flammable, and one hit could do them in. "We have one shot at this. Let's make it count!" Toothless roared in agreement as they took the sky above, then seeing that the gods were in their favor as a storm rolled over. Lightning flashed over the sky as Ruby realized the blessing.

"Okay Toothless. Time to disappear." Ruby said as she took off her hood. It flew away from her, and landed on the beast's skin, which disintegrated on contact. The beast's skin was hotter than boiling lava, in anger of the two that dared to challenge him. But for Ruby, losing her hood was a sign that now she had nothing to lose. Nothing left, but her life.

But she then realized. Toothless was also here. She had him to lose now. But now was not the time to think on it. She took to the clouds, and the two vanished.

A/N

Cliffhangers! Oh boy, how I love to keep you guys in suspense. So, I know, "Ruby shouldn't have a peg leg. It seems a bit old fashioned for how advanced the technology is in Remnant." Yes, I completely agree with that. So I have now one of two directions to take with this. But only one can be taken. I think you all know what I mean, but if you don't, you'll just have to wait for next chapter.

Consider the next chapter a happy holiday gift from me to all of you.


	9. Chapter 9: Coming Back Around

Chapter 9

Coming Back Around

The Black Death roared in frustration now. His prey had escaped his sight, and now was shrouded in a sea of darkness. Its body was searing with heat now, any physical object that came close to it could be incinerated in a second.

Then a blast hit it from the side. It hit the wing perfectly, then a blade ran across the other wing. It roared in pain as it was hit more, slice after slice, blast after blast. It roared in both pain and rage.

Ruby then looked at her scythe. The body of the beast was so hot it made the blade of Crescent Rose melt, making it completely useless to even shoot. It couldn't even be folded now.

"Well this is gonna be a bit harder to pull off now." Ruby muttered with a worried tone. She tossed away Crescent Rose and directed Toothless, which made his shots even more perfect. But the Black Death had had enough, and released multiple streams of fire from its body, which barely caught the tail on fire. Ruby looked back at it in dread.

"It's time, Toothless. Let's see what you can do." Ruby said. Toothless looped around and caught the Black Death's attention. Ruby looked and saw her work. The wings were wounded now. If everything went to plan, then the victory was ensured.

They dove at full speed toward the ground, with the Black Death right on their tails. It narrowed its eyes as it bellowed up to incinerate them. Ruby looked back.

"Not yet. Hold it." Ruby said. She put her hand on one of her Dust rounds. The gas now was spewing from its mouth. "NOW!" Ruby shouted. Toothless spun around as Ruby threw a lightning Dust bullet, which flew into Toothless's fire blast. The purple fire now sparked blue with lightning as it flew straight into the gullet of the Black Death. The gas stored up now caught fire as it coughed up an inferno. Its body began to spurt out flames as the ground approached. It tried to fly back up, but the holes in the wings now expanded while the lightning coursed through its body, ripping apart its flesh and shredding the wings to mere scraps as Toothless took back through it.

It impacted the ground, making an earth shaking explosion that reached the heavens. But though the Huntsmen were now safe, Ruby and Toothless were far from it. They flew through the bursting body of the Black Death, running too far out of time as the tail ran into its limit, and unclipped from Toothless. And at the worst time, as the tail of the dragon slammed into the two, knocking Ruby off of Toothless.

He called out to Ruby as he flew to her, just too late seeing that her aura had cracked. From the pipes that landed on her back on the ship, and now being hit directly, it was too much for her aura. But Toothless dove to her, as the flames swallowed them.

"Ruby!" Yang's voice echoed through the air, which was filled with black smoke. Ashes fell from the sky as Yang called out to Ruby again. The smoke then cleared, and she saw a black figure, a dragon, lying curled up. "Ruby!" Yang rushed to the dragon, who breathed slowly in exhaustion. She looked at his body, and saw that all the gear that Ruby had made was in shambles. Meanwhile, the tail wing was completely gone, and not too far lay the half melted Crescent Rose. The blade of the scythe was hardly identifiable.

Toothless opened his eyes, narrowing them to see Yang. He made a soft noise, and raised his head weakly.

"Did you… is she…" Yang said. Toothless did nothing, but stare at her. "No. She can't be. Oh gods." Yang rested her eyes in her hands, feeling tears flow through her eyelids and soaking her palms. The Huntsmen, along with the Grimm, gathered to see the dragon, and bowed their heads in respect to the huntress that gave her life to save them all.

Then Toothless opened his wings, to reveal the young girl they all mourned for. Yang saw her, and took her in her arms. "Ruby…." Yang muttered as she checked her. Her face was slightly burned, and she had a scratch across her right cheek, where blood had already clotted from the heat. But Yang checked her pulse, and her heart still beat. She felt more tears run down her cheeks. "She's… she's alive. She is alive!" Yang half laughed, half cried. Everyone cheered, breaking the absolute tense silence. Yang hugged Ruby as she looked to Toothless. "Thank you."

Toothless let out a slight smirk as Yang put a hand on his head.

"You saved my sister." Yang smiled, wiping the streams of tears from her face.

"Well, most of her." Weiss corrected. Yang then saw what Weiss was referring to.

After what felt like a coma to Ruby, she finally began to awake. Her vision was still a bit blurry, from a few days of not using her eyes. But as her vision focused, she looked to her right and saw Toothless, who seemed extremely happy to see her. "Hey buddy." Ruby said weakly. Toothless now beamed with delight as he nuzzled her. "Yeah, I'm happy to see you too, Toothless." Ruby giggled as he nuzzled her more. She double over, however, when he accidentally stepped up on her bed.

But then Ruby realized where she was. "I'm… back at Beacon." Ruby said with a bit of shock. "I… thought I was expelled. Was that a drea- Wait, hold on, you're in my room!" Ruby exclaimed. Toothless looked around, as if he just realized he was in her dorm. "How did you even get in here?" Ruby was about to get up, but then realized she couldn't feel her left foot. She lifted her covers, and discovered the truth.

Her foot was gone, and it was replaced with a metal foot. It had a somewhat similar look to a regular foot, but it was much thinner, at least at the foot. The closer it got to her leg, though, the more metal there was. Ruby then looked at Toothless, who carried a slight face of guilt. She knew he did it, but she knew why. There was no other way to save her. If he tried to grab her, her head would've been fried still. And she couldn't even think of any alternative ways he could've saved her.

If only her aura had stayed strong, she would've had her foot still. But she didn't dwell on it, and focused on learning how to adjust to her new foot. She tried to stand, but with the addition to the fact that she's been asleep for God knows how long, she began to stumble a bit, but Toothless lent her his assistance. She grunted as he lifted her up.

"Thanks, buddy." Ruby said as she opened the door to her dorm. Outside, waited her team. They all couldn't help themselves, and they all hugged Ruby.

"Welcome back, Ruby." Yang said. Ruby smiled as she wrapped her arms around her teammates, and Toothless made his way to the hall.

"Thought you'd never wake up." Blake said. Ruby chuckled a bit.

"Never thought I would either." Ruby agreed, the rest of them laughing with her.

"Adjusting to the new foot?" Yang asked.

"It'll take a bit of getting used to." Ruby shrugged, moving the foot a bit.

"Ironwood had a lot of his people working on that. He really wanted to make it up to you, as well as Ozpin and the rest of the professors." Weiss stated.

"Well I'll let them know it's more than enough." Ruby smiled. Yang lent an arm to support Ruby as they made their way out of the dorms. As the went outside, Ruby saw a sight beyond any of her wildest dreams. She saw Grimm and people getting along. The red markings and the bones that held down the Grimm were all gone, and they were completely free. Free to join men and Faunus in peace.

"If you guys weren't here, I'd say that I was dead." Ruby said in shock.

She looked around the whole campus. Completely new buildings were made, and there were even completely new Grimm among them. It was a sight for sore eyes, especially for Ruby, because she realized that all this was possible because she never gave up on the Grimm. As they walked through the campus, Ozpin came up to them.

"Miss Rose. I must apologize for misunderstanding your ideals. As I am sure many here will agree that we all misunderstood your intentions." Ozpin said as he wore a smile on his face.

"It's fine, really. After all, this…" Ruby looked around the campus, still unable to believe this was real. "This is amazing. I… I could never imagine this actually happening."

"It was all possible because you never gave up. Even when everything was lost, and everything you had was taken from you. Which, again, I must apologize for." Ozpin said.

"I really can't blame anyone. The idea at the time that Grimm could be good was… well, it took me a while to believe it too." Ruby said with a little chuckle. Ironwood then came to her with a handful of new gear.

"Allow me to thank you further with this, Miss Rose. I believe your dragon may need it." Ironwood smirked as he handed Ruby the new gear. It included a new saddle, a new tail wing, gear to use the wing, and a newly sewn hood for her. Somehow, it seemed better than her old one.

"Welcome back to Beacon, Ruby." Ozpin said. Toothless then came bounding toward her, nuzzling up on Ruby.

"Eager to get back to flying, Huh?" Ruby giggled as Toothless playfully rubbed up against her. It took a while, but Ruby managed to get all the gear on Toothless. The tail wing was a rosy red with Ruby's symbol on it in white. And the foot pedal was specially fitted for her new foot. She shifted once, and the wing fully expanded. Ruby now wore a wide grin. "Ready, bud?"

Toothless nodded with a wide smile as they took to the skies, Yang right behind them on her Nevermore. Weiss and Blake followed them on foot, reaching the mountains to run alongside them.

'This is Remnant. It's populated halfly with humans, and the other half with Faunus. It's been war free for over 80 years, and it's had festivals to keep the good spirits up ever since.

The final upsides are the pets.

While we still have things like dogs or cats, we now have Grimm.'

A/N

So I tried, but originality is not my absolute strong suit with these things. But I do plan to make the next few chapters a bit more original. Speaking of which, if you guys have any ideas as to what the names of the Grimm of team RWBY and JNPR should be, please feel free to either PM me your ideas or leave a review of what you think it should be. I'll be sure to give you credit in the next chapter. Remember, Yang has the Nevermore, Blake has the Ursa, Jaune and Pyrrha are the DeathStalker, and Ren and Nora are obviously the King Tijitu.

And please, for the love of God, don't suggest names of character ships for the Grimm. It'll just be a waste of time for me and you. As well, please refrain from choosing offensive or suggestive names. I don't want to piss off anyone.

But yeah, with that, leave a review of what you thought of the chapter, and all of that other jazz.


	10. Chapter 10: Joining the Sky

Chapter 10

Joining the Sky

Two years after the battle against the Black Death, the people of Remnant began to develop an overwhelming peace, especially with the Grimm being no longer a threat. Though some Grimm were still under the mysterious dark spell, the number of non-possessed Grimm heavily outnumbered the possessed ones. And without the constant fear of Grimm attacks, technology was no longer focused on that of weaponry, and was now concentrated on expanding civilization, making the Grimm comfortable in said civilization, and mending any wounds from freed Grimm.

But the peace did not stop Huntsmen from making the lives of others easier, as they were inclined to do. And in the process, they make life easier for themselves as well.

One day, as the Nevermores perched atop the pillars on the entrance to Beacon, Ruby observed her metal foot. She added more plating to the foot itself to make it look more normal(also so she could at least wear socks without shredding them to pieces), but she felt that she could do more with it.

"What's wrong sis? Having more robo troubles?" Yang asked.

"No, the foot's acting just fine. It's just… it feels like I can use this foot for more than just walking." Ruby sighed.

"Yeah, kicking! A metal foot could pack quite the punch. Or, I guess pack a kick, in this case." Yang said.

"No, not for combat, either. And I feel like Toothless is holding in his own secrets too." Ruby said, rubbing her thumb up and down on the pencil in her left hand. She let out an exaggerated sigh as she rested her head on the desk.

"Well, it's not like it would hurt to tinker with it." Yang shrugged.

"Hmm…" Ruby sighed, spinning the pencil in her hand, maneuvering it through her thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Though as an idea struck her, the pencil fell from her grasp. She retrieved it instantly, along with a few blank papers, and rushed to the workshops.

Toothless followed her in joyful anticipation in what she had planned. She instantly began drawing plans.

[Ten days later]

Ruby adjusted the foot one last time as she stood up. She popped her back as she tapped her foot on the ground twice. "Alright. Propulsion test number one." Ruby took a deep breath and slammed her metal foot. At first, nothing happened, and as she lifted her foot to check for any errors, the thrusters activated instantly, thrusting her into a workbench, which broke under the momentum. "Okay. Test number one failed." Ruby grunted as she struggled to get up.

Unfortunately, the thrusters activated again, launching her back first into a wall. She sighed in annoyance at the unstable functionality of her improvements.

[Five more days later]

"Alright. Test number four." Ruby said with a hint of fear in her voice. For a moment, she was able to hover off the ground, but when she tried to turn the thrusters off, she spun in a perfect spiral and barreled into a shelf of equipment. Which then proceeded to fall on top of her. She sighed louder now in more annoyance. "I'm getting flashbacks of testing Crescent Rose."

[Three months later]

"Oh boy. Test number, uh… Yang, what number is this?" Ruby asked.

"Lost count after fifty." Yang shrugged.

"I think it's somewhere in the triple digits." Weiss said behind her book.

"Well, at this point, numbers don't exactly count anymore." Ruby shrugged. She activated the thrusters, which she had tuned far too powerful, which launched her through the roof.

"I think it was number 109." Blake said.

"Nah, 110, counting this one." Yang said.

[two more months later]

Ruby, at this point, had given up on announcing the test number. She simply activated the thrusters, which began to hover her off the ground. "Okay. Initial thrust good. Keep it steady…" Ruby muttered to herself. Toothless watched carefully, in case he needed to go after her to catch her. Again.

She picked up power, and hovered higher and higher from the ground. "So far, so good." Ruby said louder this time. More of a reassurance for her than Toothless, if she was honest.

Then she reached for the straps across her waist and wings sprung out and wrapped around her arms. "Wing deployment finally reliable. Now let's see…" She then skyrocketed, feeling wind press against her whole body. Her wings unfolded and she came into control.

She kicked into the sky, and she went straight forward. She barreled toward the ground, but she was in full control. She kicked off the ground, and flew back into the sky once again. Before, she had done so in fear. Now, she felt a whole new sensation.

She felt as if the whole sky- no, the entire world was under her control, as if she held some form of divine power that made her bend everything to her will. She hollered to the thin air, which sounded for miles all around her, the clouds seeming to cheer her on as she raced over the Emerald Forest. Over the trees she flew, a trail of rose petals following her everywhere she went.

This, she thought, was what it was like to be a dragon. To be able to fly without effort, to spit fire through the air, while feeling invincible.

Now she understood Toothless to an even deeper level. She understood why, two and a half years ago, he was desperate to be back in the sky. To be on the ground was to feel completely vulnerable, while having full control of the sky made you feel like a god.

Then she thought of Toothless. She knew he felt vulnerable, even when she was around, simply because he could not fly all the time. So when Ruby returned to Beacon, she returned to the workshop. Toothless followed curiously, peeking at what she was designing.

"I hurt you before. I'll do everything I can to make it right again." Ruby said. Toothless was confused at her words. He had already forgiven her of what had happened back at Forever Fall, but then he realized that she still had not forgiven herself yet. But Ruby had a plan.

She would give Toothless full control over his tail once again. No matter the cost or the time it took. For her heart would never forgive itself if she did not complete this.

[One year later]

Summer fell upon the world of Remnant, bringing yet another enjoyment of the bright and cheerful kingdoms, where all could be outside and enjoy time with their Grimm. Meanwhile, over the expansive lake of Matsu, a trail of roses threaded across the calm waters, small ripples echoing across the lake, which originated from the crimson specks. And across the floating islands a black blur raced through. Eventually, the racing blur stopped on a small floating island. Now that people could safely traverse the islands, they were given names. And the island they landed on was called Seraph Island.

"So far so good. But calibration is just a bit off. We'll work out those bugs when we get back to Mistral." Ruby said. Meanwhile she made sure the saddle was fastened properly and all the other gear was still on right. After that, she looked out to Lake Matsu. She never took the time to appreciate the beauty of nature, and this made her rethink all of her negligence. "Wow. Lake Matsu sure is a sight, isn't it?" Ruby sighed as she sat at the edge of the island, letting her feet dangle from the island. Her silver eyes scanned all the islands, which lustered with life of all kinds. Some men have even started building bridges from island to island.

Ruby sighed in peace as she laid back in the grass, letting the lush green flow through her hair. But as she laid down in relaxation, she caught a glimpse of a strange symbol in the corner of her eye. She looked up at it to see something she had not seen in a long time.

"This… can't be." Ruby muttered. She rose up to observe the symbol closer. Toothless cocked his head in curiosity. But Ruby was almost happy to see what she saw. "It's Doctor Merlot. He must be nearby." Ruby almost shouted this. She knew, however, that this meant danger. But as well, she knew it meant answers for questions she's had for a long time.

"We have to get to Beacon. Ozpin will want to hear this in person." Ruby said as she snapped a photo of the symbol. She got on Toothless, and they took off to Beacon once again.

A/N

Sooo…. full disclosure, this was more of a filler chapter until I get an idea of what I want the rest of this story to be. And due to lack of participation, I'll just do the names myself. So, contest over, all that jazz. But do stay around for future updates.


	11. Chapter 11: A Minor Setback

Chapter 11

A Minor Setback

"So let me sum this up: you want to travel the world searching for a Doctor Merlot- more specifically, Mistral- and your only piece of evidence is one symbol of his on an island in Lake Matsu. Am I wrong?" Ozpin said.

"Well… no, actually. That's pretty much the summary of what I asked for." Ruby said, shuffling nervously.

"Look- I know you want to make sure he's no longer a threat, but we're still taking apart Vale and building it anew. That takes time and resources. Trying to find Merlot takes even more time and resources. In short, if we were to pursue Merlot at this stage, we'd never get Vale completed within the year, let alone the decade. That would inevitably leave many people homeless and jobless. In which case, riots would rise. And all that negativity has a chance to bring back the curse on the Grimm and bring even further activity from untamed Grimm.

"In short, I'm sorry,- I truly am- but the search for Merlot must be put aside until construction of Vale is complete." Ozpin finally finished, leaving Ruby slightly angered.

"But what if he's trying something? We know he's out there, and what happened last time we avoided this?" Ruby inquired. "If we don't strike now, we might not have a next time. He's trying to bring down the kingdoms by strengthening the Grimm! By making them impossible to reason with! And I'm willing to bet he's smart enough not to leave himself open for visitors next time!"

Ozpin seemed surprised at the youth, but his expression showed her attitude hardly affected him. "You're just like her." A rare scene now, a tear down Ozpin's cheek. "If I focus hard enough, I can hardly see you. All I can see is your mother standing before me, demanding the very same thing."

Ruby took a step back, realizing the truth. "She asked for the same? She wanted to find Merlot as well?"

Ozpin nodded as the tear was wiped off. "You must understand- no, I beg of you, please do not force me to repeat this sin. I sent one innocent life to die twelve years ago. I wish not to send another to the exact same fate."

Ruby no longer argued. "I'm sorry." She bowed to Ozpin.

"Thank you. You may go." Ozpin said. And so Ruby left him, both in sorrow.

"So? What did the old man say?" Yang asked.

"Ozpin wouldn't hesitate to have Merlot hunted down, I'm certain." Weiss said.

"He said no." Ruby sighed as she sat on the steps outside.

Weiss handed Yang the Lien of their wager.

"Did he explain why we couldn't hunt for him?" Blake asked.

"Because… my mom asked for the same thing. It was her final mission before she…" Ruby let out a shaky sigh.

"Oh. That's… a pretty valid reason." Blake said with a hint of shock in her voice.

"I feel like I'm missing something here." Weiss said with a confused tone.

"Ruby's mom, Summer, she left on a mission over twelve years ago, alone. It was a month before we got the news. The only memory of her was her white hood." Yang explained with sorrow nearly drowning her voice.

Weiss's eyes widened. "Oh my God. So… Wow. I had no idea. Sorry."

"It's alright, not like you knowing could really change anything." Ruby shrugged.

"Well, if this is the case, what are we gonna do now?" Yang asked, Ruby thinking the exact same thing.

"Honestly, I don't know. We're in the weeds right now. Not much we can do I suppose." Ruby sighed. Their Grimm began to gather around them, curious at their emotions. "Nothing we can do, except… except…"

"We've done more than enough in these two years. I think by now, we deserve a break. You especially." Blake said to Ruby.

"Yeah, between beating the Black Death and now, you've done a lot for both the people and Grimm. Just look around." Weiss said.

Ruby lifted her head. The entirety of Beacon was like a completely different place. The pillars around the center statue now were reinforced to support the Nevermores, allowing them to drink from the pool around the statue. There were small houses for the smaller Grimm, and tunnels that led underground for the larger Grimm. On the side of the lake, there was pads for Grimm to both land and take off.

As for their Grimm, Ruby helped outfit Grendel and Blake's Ursa, Baloo, with retractable grips for Yang's Nevermore, Diaval, to carry them with less effort. And she also specially designed Toothless's tail wing to look like it was part of his body.

She realized, she really did change Vale- if not the entirety of Remnant. And it was all thanks to her determination to show the good of the Grimm, and also thanks to Toothless to showing her that side.

"Besides, you've done nothing but work since we've beaten the Black Death." Yang added. "With your foot and Toothless, you've done so much."

Ruby sighed as she looked at the sky, light grey clouds blocking just enough sun to allow a true appreciation of the midday sky. "Yeah… yeah, I guess we did do a lot since we beat that thing." Ruby said. Somehow, she felt those words come out physically, like an actual weight inside her chest was released when she talked.

"We all want to settle things with Merlot, but I guess it can wait. After all, everyone needs a vacation every now and again." Blake said with a smile. Ruby returned the gesture, the whole team and their Grimm relaxing under the warm late spring sun.

Later that evening, the team retired to their dorms, and headed to bed after a rather late dinner. And for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Ruby got her first good night's rest.

Or at least, that's how time would have had it. But something interrupted, the one time she let her guard down. Or rather, the one time they let their guard down. It was beyond Merlot or any foe they've faced before. It felt like reality itself had spilled over like a bottle of water. Visions of realities far from their own, and some so similar, yet so different. Realities of that reality being torn apart by some higher power, realities where nothing made sense, and realities where they ended their stories happily, and some the opposite.

And then, there was one last one. One that was not on Remnant, yet was so similar to their world. And something spilled over from that reality, and entered theirs. But not right before them, no. It seemed to land within the ocean, right off the shore of Patch. However, there was not only one singularity in this supernatural event. There seemed to be several results of this split second event. But they went unknown for such a time.

Do not be mistaken, this was not how the timestreams were meant to go. If it weren't interfered with, Merlot would have been found and captured within a matter of weeks. But now, the events were drastically altered by this event. Now, their sights were taken off of Merlot, and onto these singularities. However… this result will end all the same, but though it ends the same, there are some things which could have been reclaimed.

But because of this, a new power would awaken, and eventually grow to form the greatest hero in this universe. And perhaps, the greatest hero within many other universes.

Several days later, the first of many singularities had been discovered. The Huntsmen expected to see some sort of meteor with a rare element or some sort of fallen package from an Atlas freight ship. But instead, they found a boy, somewhere around his early twenties. His hair was brown and scruffy, with one small braid at the bottom. His armor was peculiar, made of leather rather than steel with the symbol of a dragon on his shoulder.

His injuries seemed to be minor, but they still took him to the hospital to have him properly examined and X-rayed. But he had no broken bones nor did any of his muscles seem damaged in a peculiar way. Ruby seemed to be exceptionally curious about this boy. Everyday, she would see him again to see if he had awoken, but only to find him still resting. Eventually, she was almost certain he was either dead or in a coma.

Of course, she was wrong. She came in one day to see the boy as awake as ever, and with a flaming sword pointed at the doctors.

"Where am I?! ANSWER ME!" The boy shouted at the doctors.

"Woah! I better step in!" Ruby exclaimed, unsheathing her new weapon. Ever since Crescent Rose melted, she had made a new weapon, called Cerulean Rose. It was a lance made of six intertwining rapier blades which expelled fire like Toothless's fire. She even designed it to absorb his fire and use it to enhance its power.

But now wasn't the time to marvel at it. She used Cerulean Rose to knock the boy's sword from his hand. She then pointed it at the boy, who rose his hands.

"So who are you?" The boy asked.

"I should be asking you that. You were first found at the southern shore of Patch, after a supernatural event which made our skies look like a painting from Renardo Vinchi." Ruby said.

"The shore of Patch? Which island is that?" The boy asked. "I'm from Berk, first island to tame the dragons."

"You tamed dragons?!" Ruby squealed. Then as quickly as she lost it, she regained her composure. "Ahem. Yes. That's… well, that's remarkable. I'll let you know I've also tamed a dragon Grimm too."

"A… dragon what? Does anything you say make sense?" The boy said with pure confusion.

'Oh boy. So I'm dealing with a cave hermit I guess?' Ruby thought. "You don't know what the Grimm are?"

"Uh… no? Look, just point me to my dragon and my island, and we'll be out of your hair." The boy stomped impatiently.

"You look here." Ruby growled menacingly. "I watched you for three weeks. Three. Making sure you were either still alive or awake. So I'd say given the circumstances, the least you could do is give me your name."

The boy sighed. "It's Hiccup."

Ruby let out a snort. "Hiccup?"

"It's not the best name, yes, but you know, it's definitely not the wors-" Hiccup said. But before he could finish, Ruby burst out laughing. Hiccup just sighed and let it happen.

After a while, Ruby finally regained her composure. "Sorry. Sorry, you were saying?" She wiped some tears from her face as she let out one last giggle.

"As I was SAYING, my dragon is also here I think. So just give me back Toothless, and we'll leave." Hiccup said.

Now, her blade was against his throat. "Excuse me, but I believe Toothless is MY dragon. We defeated a giant behemoth of a Grimm together, we changed the world together, and for the better. So-"

"Either this is a big coincidence, or you stole my dragon. See, MY dragon is a black one, pretty small for a dragon, and missing a tail wing." Hiccup demanded.

"Yeah, that's mine. There are plenty of Grimm out there, so get your own." Ruby growled.

"Wait… don't tell me you found another Night Fury?" Hiccup said with a hint of excitement.

"Another?" Ruby questioned. Then she began to think it as a possibility. "Perhaps this IS a big misunderstanding." She then lowered her blade. "Well, if that is the case, then I'll tell Ozpin to keep his eye out for another Night Fury with a missing wing on his tail."

"I'm sorry, Ozpin?" Hiccup tilted his head.

"Oh boy." Ruby sighed. "I've got a lot of explaining to do, don't I?"

"So… this definitely isn't Berk." Hiccup said simply.

"Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask you, where is Berk? Never heard of that place." Ruby asked with a hint of eagerness.

"Well, it's a rather tall island. Er- maybe two islands really close together. But it might as well be one island. But that's beside the point! Anyway, Berk is full of former Vikings, and current Dragon-Riders. But we don't have a lot of this… technological stuff yet. In fact, we hardly got past metal welding. Either wa-"

"You guys really tame dragons?! So cool! How many dragons do you guys have?!" Ruby exclaimed giddily.

"Well… I'd say a few hundred. Though, it's not as impressive since the world is full of Dragons." Hiccup answered.

"Uh… pardon? Sorry to burst your bubble, but until Toothless, we've hardly had a single dragon or dragon like creature in the world. Not even in any of our History classes." Ruby stated.

Hiccup seemed baffled by this. "No dragons? Not even one?"

Ruby shook her head. "Sorry dude. But maybe you're just in an undiscovered part of the world. And a very behind part at that." She placed her fingers on her chin as she said this, tapping her upper lip.

"Well, it is possible. It's a rather cold region, so maybe that'll help." Hiccup said.

"In that case, it would probably be near Atlas. Okay, we can work with that." Ruby muttered. They soon came to the main tower in Beacon. They came up to see Ozpin already conversing with General Ironwood, both of them seemingly in a state of concern.

"If it really is Ise-" Ironwood shouted, but then cut himself off when he heard the two children enter. "Ahem. We'll continue this later. For now, I'll continue sending research parties to these singularities." Then as he began to leave, he put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I want you to find me at the ground floor after you're done here."

Hiccup nodded as Ironwood then took the elevator down. "Apologies, you two. Now then, what was it you came to talk to me about?"

"Hiccup, take it away." Ruby said as she took a step back.

"So Hiccup is your name?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, pretty ridiculous name. But, y'know, it's not the worst. Where I'm from, we believe names like mine will scare away trolls and the likes." Hiccup stated.

"Interesting traditions. Might I ask where it is you grew up?" Ozpin inquired.

"It's a small island called Berk. Once known for being a long surviving village, now known for being the first dragon riding village." Hiccup explained.

"Oh? Dragon riding? Interesting. So far, young Miss Rose has been the only one to find and tame a dragon Grimm. Perhaps your people found a nest of dragon Grimm?" Ozpin wondered out loud.

"Well, that's the other thing I wanted to discuss. Y'see, the description of my dragon seems to completely match that of Ruby's. I was wondering, perhaps there's another Night Fury out there?" Hiccup asked.

"Hmm… it is possible. I will have Ironwood keep an eye out for any Night Furies aside from Ruby's dragon. Perhaps your friend is out there." Ozpin nodded.

"Thank you. He should look like her dragon, but with a red tail wing. But he can't fly on his own, so you'd want to look more to the ground." Hiccup finished.

"Very well then. Thank you for discussing this with me. I'll send a few search parties to look for him when we have the time and resources for it." Ozpin said.

"Thank you, sir." Hiccup said as he took a bow to him.

"Little much there, bud." Ruby chuckled.

After they came to the ground floor, they parted ways, Hiccup going with Ironwood for questioning as Ruby went off to stroll around the Emerald Forest. She always went for a stroll in the woods when she was feeling a bit stressed. Then she stumbled upon four graves that were previously non-existent. They were honorary graves for huntsmen that gave their lives for the betterment of humanity.

They were all on the same team, it looked like- Team DRHN. Their names: Dain Ral, Ron Fare, Lucia Hyouga, and Lana Nayru. And underneath, it explained their feats. Defeating the Brimbreather and the slaying of the legendary villain, Grendel.

"Team DRHN… I've never heard of this team, but somehow it sounds familiar…" Ruby said. She then saw just past that the place where she first met Toothless. Where he had crash landed.

She sat on a rock in that area as she took in the serenity of the area. No matter what, it seemed like Grimm would always stray from this area in particular.

'Guess I got lucky to have passed out here way back when. Maybe… did he do it?' Ruby thought to herself. While lost in her thoughts, a large piece of cloth landed on her face. "Ugh, litterbugs. Who just throws random newspapers and-" Ruby complained as she removed the cloth. But what she saw was beyond what she expected.

She recounted the words Hiccup had said. "He should look like her dragon, but with a red tail wing."

"No way..!" Ruby said with a shocked gasp. The cloth she held in her hands was a red tail wing, tattered and worn from two years of drifting in the wind and being scratched up by trees. And the weirdest part: it was still wet from the ice.

The ice she had used to shoot down Toothless.

"He is… I… I stole a dragon."


	12. Chapter 12: The Send Off

Chapter 12

The Send Off

It was hours before Ruby finally returned, and with a pack full of things. When Yang asked where she'd been, she only responded by asking where Hiccup was.

"Well, Ironwood took him for questioning, but we haven't seen him since." Yang answered. Before she could ask why she wanted to see him, Ruby was already gone. Half an hour later, she found Hiccup in the medical wing. His left leg was bound in bandages, and she could see a faint glow beneath them.

"Lemme guess, upgraded foot?" Ruby asked finally.

"Yeah, and it feels almost real. Though, they said to leave the bandages on just so that my skin doesn't bleed." Hiccup said.

"Yeah… um, hey, so… I dunno how to put this, but… okay, look, just don't freak out, okay?" Ruby stuttered as she opened her backpack. Inside, a ton of worn and torn items. But one stood out in particular to Hiccup: a red, torn tail wing.

"Oh no. Don't tell me…" Hiccup choked on his words.

"No! No, no no, it's not like that. I just found all this out where I first found Toothless. So, um… I think it's safe to say I found your dragon." Ruby said.

Hiccup's eyes lit up. "You're saying your Toothless is my Toothless?!"

"Uh, yeah… sorry… for stealing your dragon." Ruby said shyly.

"Hey, no hard feelings. But… y'know, if you stood by him for, what, two years, you said? Then I bet you've built a solid relationship with him. So…" Hiccup said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You want me to help you take care of him, is what you're getting at?" Ruby asked.

"Er-... yeah. Yeah, exactly that." Hiccup said.

"Aww yeah! Two awesome heroes training the same dragon! So cool!" Ruby fist pumped as she exclaimed this.

"Hey, quiet down! We're in a medical bay!" Hiccup hushed.

"Oops, sorry!" Ruby said quietly. The two bumped fists as they exited the wing and went to the dorms.

The next day, Hiccup was led to the center of Beacon, where there rested Toothless. He hung upside-down from a sturdy pole built just for him.

"Hey, buddy." Hiccup said softly to the dragon. The dragon opened his eyes, and fell from the pole in surprise. "Oh! You alright?!" Hiccup exclaimed. Toothless hardly cared about himself as he tackled Hiccup with glee, licking the unsuspecting youth. "AUGH! HEY! THAT DOESN'T WASH OUT, TOOTHLESS, STOP!" He merely laughed as he let Hiccup go. "Ugh, guess you kept on to some habits."

Ruby just smiled through the reunion. Then when it came to his wing, Hiccup was in shock.

"You actually made an almost perfect copy! And you said he can control it?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Atlas technology. Ironwood is strict, but I can see he has a heart for wanting to make up for mistakes." Ruby said with a grin.

"This is amazing! He's completely independent now!" Hiccup cheered. Then something made him stop. "You said make up for mistakes. Does that imply that…"

"Yeah, I tried to convince everyone that the Grimm aren't all that bad, then everything kinda hit the crapper. Long story short, nobody believed me, him and I beat a giant Grimm dragon, now everyone loves Grimm." Ruby said in a somewhat quick pace.

"Heh, reminds me of what him and I did back on Berk. Almost a reenactment." Hiccup chuckled.

Then another question came to Ruby's mind. "What kind of dragons did you guys have? And what's your story?"

"Oh, well... " Hiccup sighed, going on to explain the dragons.

{Meanwhile…}

"If He is really behind all this, then I say our best bet is to eliminate all other sources of evil in this world. And that includes Merlot and Salem." Ironwood demanded.

"I do understand the concerns. However…" Ozpin hummed to himself.

"There is no 'however'! It's either we die, or survive!" Ironwood slammed his foot.

"Calm yourself, James. In case you didn't see on your way in, we're going through an entire remodeling of Vale, and that means researching the Grimm and knowing what is best for them! And above all that, Atlas is also involved in figuring out if the Grimm contract any diseases that are fatal to humans and/or Faunus. And all those things require time and resources. To bring in the matter of a hunt for both Salem AND Merlot is bringing both those things way beyond our limit!" Goodwitch explained in a stern tone.

"But then again… if we ignore these problems for an extended period, they might prove to destroy what we build. It's either sacrifice time for resources, or sacrifice resources for time. I see now, we can't choose both." Ozpin hummed. Then, after a sip of coffee, he looked directly at Ironwood. "Very well then. Give the word to the students, some will want to help with the search for Merlot. However, keep the search for Salem secret to only the military and us. We can't risk mass panic falling out, it could be disastrous."

"Understood. I'll send word to my troops about searching for Salem. On my way, I'll also give word to any huntsmen that the search for Merlot will be going underway soon." Ironwood said. As he left, Glynda noticed Ozpin visibly tensing up, as well as rapidly tapping his foot.

"Are you alright, sir?" Glynda questioned. Ozpin didn't respond at all, as if he couldn't hear her at all.

'This is the right choice, isn't it?' Ozpin thought.

{later}

"WHAAAAAAAAT!?" Ruby exclaimed as she looked at the mission board. The hunt for Merlot was now on there, despite the confessions from Ozpin. Hiccup looked at the same thing.

"Uh… 'Bounty / Search and Destroy: Merlot'. Who's this Merlot guy?" Hiccup asked.

"Only the man with about every answer I've been trying to solve! YES!" Ruby cheered.

"This guy sounds like the real deal. Count me in." Hiccup said.

"You sure? It's gonna be really dangerous, and it sounds like you don't have a lot of practice with Grimm training or fighting." Ruby questioned.

"Yeah, might be my best chance to find the others. Besides, I wanna see Toothless in action after two years with you by his side." Hiccup smirked.

Ruby simply smirked back as she entered her team name along with Hiccup.

{three days later}

The ships were now set to launch, with several tens of huntsmen teams from Vale loaded to search across Mistral for the elusive Doctor Merlot. As well, the other kingdoms were sending several huntsmen teams of their own for the same search, and a select few were in search for Salem, classified at Operation: Witch Hunt. But the repercussions of keeping this operation a secret would become more than apparent in the near future.

But that's another matter. For the present, all team RWBY could think of was finding Merlot. But they weren't alone in this endeavor. Team JNPR and CFVY were also along for the ride, as well as a few other teams from Beacon. There were even some graduated huntsmen teams flying with them, which was real proof that the teachers were serious about Merlot now. But to Ruby's confusion, Qrow wasn't on board.

"So who's betting on Merlot being in Mistral?" Yang asked.

"Like, actual betting, or just mental bets?" Jaune asked back.

"I mean, Mistral is a big place to hide, but he could also be smart enough to realize that. He might be hiding in the Vacuo deserts, or even one of the obscure islands." Pyrrha stated.

"So you're saying he might be elsewhere?" Velvet questioned curiously. Pyrrha nodded.

"We've also got to remember, we're not the only ones looking. We have several other ships from Beacon heading to several parts of the world, along with every other kingdom in the world helping the search. With this kind of power, I wouldn't be surprised if we found him in the span of this week." Weiss explained.

"Fair point." Coco shrugged. Meanwhile, Hiccup and Ruby talked.

"I see. So you also shot Toothless down. Thank goodness you didn't use a lethal shot." Hiccup sighed.

"Yeah, but ice Dust rounds are still lethal if hit in certain areas. There are countless ways that round could have killed Toothless, as scary as it is to say." Ruby shuddered at the thought of killing Toothless.

"Hey, same goes for me. The shot I did on him could have either sent him into the sea to drown or wacked him in the head." Hiccup said half jokingly, but then immediately the smile faded. "Oh wow, I'm gonna be having nightmares about that for a few weeks."

Ruby chuckled at his sudden change in attitude. "You know, we're a lot more alike than I first realized." Hiccup tilted his head. "I mean, other than the obvious. That being we both have a strong bond with Toothless. I mean, we both showed our people that the Grimm- the dragons- the monsters we thought were irredeemable, we showed that there was a path to peace through it all. And through that, we changed both our worlds."

Hiccup thought on that for a few seconds. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are alike in more ways than one. And it's not just our acts that connect us either, really. Our personalities seem pretty similar too. Not to mention a few physical likenesses." Hiccup said as he ran his hand through his hair.

Ruby laughed. "Yeah, I see your point. As well as a certain something else." Ruby lightly kicked with her metal foot.

"I'll say this much: it's certainly better than a peg leg. You all have technology that I could only dream of on Berk." Hiccup said.

"That reminds me, I forgot to ask, but what did your people do before you tamed dragons?" Ruby questioned.

"Hoo boy, where do I begin?" Hiccup sighed. So then he took out a map and flipped to a detailed drawing of his home island. "This is Berk."

{An hour and twenty minutes later}

"And that's… pretty much my story. Well, that was before I got here. Toothless and I were testing a new wing and saddle, but when we crash landed, he seemed to just vanish. If it weren't for Astrid, I would have been stuck on that island. Then… I heard a strange voice. He claimed to be called Distortion, and he was the cause of 'the last Night Fury's vanishing.' Then after a few weird words, I saw everyone around me turn to dust and blood, then I vanished too. It… it was…" Hiccup shuddered greatly now, tears streaming down his face.

"I… I'm sorry. That must have been horrifying." Ruby said.

Hiccup could no longer talk. He could only choke on his words as he sobbed uncontrollably. He could only re-envision what happened. He could even now feel the terror of losing everything in a single horrifying instant. Ruby, on the other hand, couldn't even imagine that kind of terror. She couldn't even begin to sympathize with him.

But she did know that he at least deserved to let the load off his chest. And they would be a while before they arrived to their search area.

By nightfall, they reached the continent of Mistral. It was heavily forested, while the north was covered in snow and ice. The Mistral patrols were easily seen in the night sky. But hardly anyone saw the single patrols that rode atop Nevermores. They flew across the main stretch of land and into the capital of Mistral. Seeing such an exotic city, with such a different way of life, it made Ruby's heart bounce. She had never seen much outside of Patch or Vale, so being able to see this new continent in person was a whole new experience. Far beyond the Vytal Festival or any other celebration.

For Hiccup, it was a whole different feeling. After his experience with Distortion, he felt like it was his sole purpose to defend this beauty of a world he was witnessing. But at the same time, he felt the same sensation. The experience of something completely new, a world beyond his knowledge prior coming to life right before him.

Ruby looked to the snow capped mountains, and by pure instinct alone, knew that there was where they would look first.

"Call it clairvoyance, but I just got this itch, this feeling, that he would be there." Ruby said with a voice of absolute certainty.

With that notion, once they landed, they took off to the snow region of Mistral with a full recon group. There were, in total, five large recon groups heading out in Mistral. They knew it'd be foolish to send teams on their own, so they compromised and made groups of ten or fifteen huntsmen teams. Team JNPR was also with their recon team, while team CFVY went with a recon team investigating the southern region.

Their recon team now consisted of two Beacon Academy teams, four Haven Academy teams, six Atlas Academy teams, and three Shade Academy teams. One of the Shade Academy teams was team SSSN as well, so team RWBY was thankful to be paired with another team they knew.

"So we're doing the frozen desert." Sun said. He wore a half eager, half worried grin. "Let's hope this is a quick mission."

For a second, Ruby could see white petals flying in the new morning sky. She felt a sense of hope, almost irrational at first, but then evolved to become a certain hope. She could only smile as they walked off to the far north, certain of their victory.

The truth of their future was far from what they could comprehend.


	13. Chapter 13: The Winter Veil

Chapter 13

The Winter Veil

Three weeks had passed, and after that time, they only just began to make progress. It seemed the closer they got to the raging snow storm, the more frequent Merlot's signs became. But no matter what the argument, the Mistral teams refused to go any nearer to the snow storm.

"It may just be superstition, but that snow storm is cursed. They say that anyone who goes into that storm never returns. At least, not the same as they once were." The leader of team FYRR (Fire) said.

"Even still, you can't deny the evidence. If that place truly is believed to be cursed, why wouldn't he try hiding there? It's the perfect hiding place!" Ruby tried to reason.

"If you and your team want to go in, be my guest. But I am NOT putting myself or my team in that danger." Flare stomped. It was clear that he wouldn't change his mind today, or any time soon. His team seemed too worried to say anything.

"Oh, but you wouldn't believe the rumors we have up north. They say that a great bandit tribe lives inside the snow storm. But in Atlas, we call it the Winter Veil. And they say that the bandit tribe has someone of great intelligence inside the storm, and that they created the Veil to keep their camp from being intruded by Grimm and Huntsmen." Nitro, a teammate of GGNN (Gun) said with a voice of both fear and excitement.

"Bandits, eh? Impossible, they could never amass that kind of technology. Atlas hardly has the technology to create artificial intelligence, and you think bandits have the know-how to make an eternal snow storm?" Rhys, another member of team FYRR, scoffed.

"So you want to miss the glory, even the excitement, of discovering a place that's been lost for generations? Imagine it! We, a ragtag team of huntsmen on the search for Merlot, disassemble an entire group of advanced bandits hiding in an eternal snow storm! And at the same time, bring in Merlot and discover the secrets of the Grimm!" Yang said with a somewhat inspiring tone.

"So what? Like the Grimm deserve to be by our sides." Flare said, a tone of disgust reaching the entire team. His eyes shot to Toothless, and his disgust was furthered. "I've no idea why Ironwood would think of helping that demon."

Unable to keep her emotions in check, Ruby instantly rose up. Her hand twitched with the urge to hit this man, furious with his blind negligence. But before she did, she inhaled sharply and regained herself. "You think you know everything, don't you?" Ruby finally spoke. Even though her body showed timidness, her tone was sterner than Glynda after they were caught in a food fight. "Do you have any idea what this 'demon' has done for you? What we have done together? We showed the world a path to peace that was never thought possible! We destroyed a Grimm that no one else could! We alone renewed the peace that would have been lost should he never have come here!"

Then in that instant, her eyes began to show a soft silver. Even her voice was different, with a slight echo of itself. "I've seen it time and time again, far more times than your family's history! Right now, at this moment, another world is dying because they never knew! Because they didn't have the power to stop him! But I do! My inheritance has saved more lives than you could ever dream of saving!

"And in addition to that, I've seen this exact world fade to dust a thousand times over! I've seen each of the people that died to Grimm. Every. Single. One. Don't tell me who or what deserves to be by our side, kid."

Then immediately after, Ruby fell over, unconscious. It was as if a completely different entity had entered her body and taken control.

But her words struck the teams so hard, they didn't dare make a move. The rage of the silver eyes was more than they could handle. Meanwhile, Ruby didn't want to wake up. Her mouth spouted words she never would dream of saying.

It was far afterwards that everyone began to settle down and go to sleep, while Ruby and Jaune took watch. The tension could be cut by a knife. Then finally, Jaune broke the silence. "So what even happened with you back there?"

Ruby's face turned red. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"S-Sorry." Jaune stammered. But at the same time, he wanted to know how she felt. It was his job not just as a leader, but as a friend. "I just wanted to let you talk, is all. But… well, now I see you did plenty of that."

Ruby simply rolled her eyes with a sigh. "What haven't I done wrong today? First I get us further away from Merlot and then I go and do THAT. Ugh, why did I say those things?"

"I could at least see it wasn't you talking. What happened?" Jaune asked again. He didn't expect Ruby to say anything, and at first, she didn't. And as Jaune was about to switch shifts, Ruby grabbed him by the arm.

"It wasn't me talking." Ruby said at last. Jaune hesitantly sat back down to listen. "It was like a complete stranger entered my mind and started talking through my mouth. I tried so hard to shut up, but words just wouldn't stop coming out. Then when I passed out, I saw new people- people I've never seen before. People… that weren't from this world. A man with a handgun dressed in a red coat, a man hiding behind a mask- even Hiccup was there! They said… they said…"

"What did they say?" Jaune asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. But then, it was as if Ruby had drawn a blank.

"I don't remember. I can see their lips move, but I can't read them." Ruby sighed heavily. She then looked to the stars. They looked different than last night, but they still carried that same beauty. The stardust that made their galaxy, the myth of the city that was the world of other worlds in the sky- every time she saw it, it made her worries wash away. The starlight glimmered and reflected from her silver eyes, as if sending the same message to her.

The next day, they began to make their way closer to the snow storm. However, the other teams retreated from the storm once teams RWBY, JNPR, and Hiccup refused to stop. But the closer they got, the colder it became, and the more they had to stop. It became so bad that it was impossible for Toothless to fly. Then it got to its peak.

The snow rushed so fast that they were blinded by it. They could hardly see their hands in front of their faces, and their winter gear was hardly any help anymore.

"We have to turn back! This is insane!" Jaune shouted.

"We can't! We're so close!" Hiccup shouted back. He tried to unsheathe his sword, but it was instantly extinguished. Even the Hideous Zippleback gas wouldn't ignite. But Ruby insisted that they push forward, certain of their great discovery. Then as all seemed impossible, the snow suddenly stopped. It became a normal storm, and they could finally see again. And then, in front of them, they all saw a giant mountain made of ice and stone. The ice shone a brilliant silver, while the ice seemed to come from the tip of the mountain's peak. From a glance, the mountain was more defensible than any wall a kingdom could have.

After warming to a fire for a few minutes, they set off to investigate the mountain under the Winter's Veil. Eventually, they found a break in the stone base that they could pass through. Inside was a maze of ice and stone that was nearly unsolvable. And to make it more complicated, their weapons hardly made a scratch in both the stone and the ice. Eventually, they realized that the maze only took them in a circle, no matter which path they took.

"Maybe we should look for another entrance. This might be a fake door, so to speak." Pyrrha suggested.

"Yeah, I agree. No point in continuing this." Weiss nodded. But while everyone was talking, Ruby was only looking up. Her mind raced, and then suddenly, a thought came to her head.

"I'm gonna have to say no to that notion." Ruby said with a somewhat blank impression. She then jumped up in a small hole in the top that wasn't apparent before.

"What do you see, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"Well, I'm seeing a very clear path up here, if you wanna see." Ruby then took a photo on her Scroll and jumped back down. Then, without skipping a beat, she went back into the maze. For a moment, the others hesitated before following suit.

It wasn't even a minute before they found the way through. A thin passage through the ice was discovered in a narrow space.

"How the hell did you see that?" Yang asked.

"I dunno. I just saw it." Ruby shrugged. Nobody noticed a small stream of silver escape the side of her eye, but they instead focused on getting through. Then, inside, was a sight beyond their comprehension. It was like an entire palace made of ice, with huge pillars of solid ice holding up the mountain itself. Just from a glance, they knew the ice was strong enough to withstand a meteor. The ice rose several hundred feet into the air, and below them was a pool of diamonds that emitted a brilliant silver light.

"Whoa. This… this is beautiful." Jaune said with an awestruck tone.

"This can't have been a natural formation. But what kind of man could have made this?" Pyrrha hummed.

"Quite right, Pyrrha Nikos." An unfamiliar voice said. Then from above, a figure wrapped in a pure white cloak descended. "This mountain was not made naturally, but it was no man that made it."

"Who are you?" Blake demanded.

"In due time, Blake Belladonna. I understand what spirit you all have to reach this place, so I will not force you out. At least, not yet." The man said. His tone made it clear that he wasn't a people person.

"How do you know our names?" Yang asked.

"A brilliant question, Yang Xiao Long. I am… cursed. With knowledge. I am cursed to know all about everyone who makes it through the Winter's Veil." The man simply said.

"Then you must know where Merlot is, right? He came through here!" Ruby insisted.

"Young Ruby Rose, I am sorry to say that I know not where he is. However, I do know something that will aid you. Please, come." The man demanded. Ruby stepped forward, but when everyone else tried to follow, the man stopped. Then, from seemingly nowhere, he unsheathed a long silver blade.

"Only. Ruby Rose. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long, you all are to stay here." The man said in an almost robotic tone.

"Just… stay here." Ruby said. The others seemed to tense a little less. "And what about Toothless?"

"The dragon may come." The man said. "I am sure we will have many answers about him that you have been seeking."

Ruby seemed to perk up at that remark. Now she was much more eager to follow. Toothless walked close behind, and they climbed the mountain hundreds of feet, until they were near the peak of the mountain. Then there, they saw a woman wrapped in a silver cloak, similar to the man's.

"So this is the young Ruby Rose, daughter of our Summer Rose." The woman said.

"Yes, ma'am. As well as tamer of Grimm and dragon." The man nodded.

"Oh yes, and the paradox." The woman said, with her gaze clearly aimed at Toothless.

"Do you know what he is?" Ruby asked.

"All too well." The woman stood up as she said this, then she put her hands together, and the ice above them began to change colors. In an instant, the once blank room became a form of observatory. There was a center light in the room, which sprouted into thousands upon millions of smaller lights. Some, brighter than others.

"What is this?" Ruby asked in awe.

"This is the multiverse. An infinite strand of universes created by one. The center universe, we call the Ultimate Core Universe. Then, there are the normal Core Universes, the worlds that the beings of the UCU created. Then those Core Universes create strand universes, weaker than the Cores, but still substantial. Millions of trillions of years ago, there was a stability in the multiverse. But then, one world was born, that birthed with it a dark power.

"It was a universe of fire and darkness, and from both, came a great evil. At first, he went by one name: Iserrule. But eventually, he was dubbed by other names, like Distortion, Chaos, or the Last Chapter. Each of those names, he rightfully earned. His power was a dreadful one, able to stockpile energy and release it to destroy physical objects. And, if he store enough, entire universes."

"This… that's impossible. There's no way someone can have that kind of power!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Reality doesn't care what is possible." The woman said. Then Ruby noticed a lot of the lights vanish. "Distortion has killed thousands upon millions of universes, and all of them have been string universes. He does not have the power yet to destroy a Core Universe. But if he is unchecked, he will very soon have that power."

"However, it will be very difficult for him to destroy the Ultimate Core Universe. It has a… special energy to it, that repels his influence. The closer the universe is to the UCU, the less likely it is that Iserrule will destroy it." The man said. "But that doesn't make it invincible. There are a number of Core Universes that have already fallen to Iserrule."

The thought of an infinite multiverse was plausible to Ruby, but one thing didn't connect to her. "Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

"Because you are a bearer of the Silver Eyes." They then dropped their hoods, and both of them also had silver eyes. "We have sworn an oath to protect the worlds from Iserrule, because we are the only ones who can."

"Why us? What's so special about our eyes?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That… that is a story that dates back to over two thousand years ago." The woman said. She enhanced to a dimmed light, but a light that somehow shone brilliantly. "Since you bear the silver eyes, you are worthy to understand our past."


	14. Chapter 14: Iserrule the Distortion

Chapter 14

Iserrule the Distortion

Millenia ago, at the corner of existence, a universe was born. A universe never meant to exist. It was the world of Iserrule. He was the lone being in this universe, but he had a frightening power to absorb a tremendous amount of energy and use it to tear apart physical matter. He used this power to destroy his universe, and spread across the entire multiverse.

For thousands of years, he went unknown to the multiverse. Then, there was one universe that changed everything.

It was a string universe of Remnant, thousands of years before Ruby or anyone from her time was born. The universe was in turmoil, always in a constant war with itself. It was a universe without the Grimm, but a frightening one regardless. Iserrule had turned the universe into his own personal playground.

Then, one day, a man rose up. He had a unique gene that gave him silver eyes, but he had a useless semblance that turned dark areas into a place brimming with light. But he still wanted to bring true good to his world. He had a strong sense of justice, as well as a will to fight for it. Iserrule therefore focused on destroying this man: the name of Gin Chikara.

It became so serious that Iserrule himself came to kill this man. And he succeeded. However, at his death, his semblance evolved into something greater.

The useless power to bring about light to darkness was furthered in that meaning. It was infused into his eyes, as well as taking a piece of Iserrule's power. That darkness within Iserrule became a brilliant, shining light. And for the first time in history, Iserrule was wounded.

Along with this power was the first true knowledge of Iserrule. And that power and knowledge was brought to those who beared the silver eyes in every universe. And in doing so brought about a safety from Iserrule.

But the wounded Iserrule was not brought back by this. He started creating a counter force to the silver eyes. He created disciples, beings who shared his power. They would be known as the Chaos Forces.

Iserrule eventually became known as Iserrule the Distortion, or simply Distortion. And as of this moment in time, only a few of his disciples still live.

"And that is the origins of Iserrule the Distortion and the silver eyes." The woman finished. Ruby remained silent for the longest time. All this time, she held this superior power, and she never knew? But then, if her mother beared this power as well, they must have known where she is.

"You knew Summer Rose, right? My mom? Where is she?" Ruby demanded.

"I'm afraid to say I know not. She once was here in search of Merlot, but she vanished many years back. Some think she went to the floating islands of Lake Matsu and died by the Lancers there." The man said with sorrow heavy in his words.

"But we hold out hope that she returns to us one day. But I feel as though reality says that it'll never be true." The woman said. Ruby felt a slight pain in her heart at the words. But deep down, she knew it was the truth all along. She just didn't admit it before.

And in doing so made the truth more painful.

*Ten days later, outside the Winter Veil…*

After a few days of visiting, the two teams and Hiccup finally resumed their hunt for Merlot. Though the signs outside the Veil had been explained as Merlot leaving bait for huntsmen, that still left them with zero evidence or leads to go off. So they began to search around Lake Matsu. The floating islands broke up the sunlight in the distance, creating several rays of sunlight. When the sunset came, it then shone on the gravity Dust under the islands, creating a lightshow of purple lights that colored the sky.

Even if they were on the clock, they couldn't ignore this beautifully natural occurrence. Then, on one of the islands, they saw a faint glimmer. A metallic reflection on top of the center island. Then, about ten minutes later, a flock of Grimm were flown in. The unique thing about them was that they glew a bright green, the same as Merlot's Grimm.

"You guys see that?" Yang said with a shocked expression.

"Yeah. I see it." Blake nodded. They knew what it meant, and what was to come.

As they called in the other huntsmen, Ruby seemed to stare off into space. The odd thing was that she started to sweat heavily, even though the climate was freezing.

"Ruby?" Weiss walked over and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. Ruby, by instinct, quickly stepped away and reached for her weapon. "What's the deal? You're way too tense right now."

"S-Sorry. It's just… with everything that's happened…" Ruby responded, dropping her guard a bit. Hiccup went over to her.

"I saw something too." Hiccup whispered. Ruby's eyes widened as she turned to him.

"What did you see?" Ruby exclaimed.

"A massive battle on those islands. Then, a bright ball of light and fire. Then afterward, darkness." Hiccup said.

"I saw Merlot on Seraph Isle, and then when he turned to me, I saw darkness." Ruby responded. They both felt it: the oncoming drums of war were ringing in their ears, but the world was silent. It was the beginning of the end for the universe, but the end was much closer than they would ever expect.

A/N

Sorry for the short chapter, but this was more of an explanation chapter than anything. To set the mood of the next chapter so to speak. Anyway, hope you are enjoying so far! For background, Iserrule is my own creation meant to be the main villain of most of my stories. So if you see him in more than one of my stories, that's why. Regardless, hope you enjoyed some exposition!


	15. Chapter 15: The Final Sunset

Chapter 15

The Final Sunset

By the time Atlesian reinforcements arrived, the floating islands were swirling with the darkness of Grimm, and the screams were only enhancing that intimidation. Enhanced, armored Grimm were all over them, and not letting up for a second. Several Atlesian warships were already dysfunctional, and ten times that number of huntsmen were already out of combat, either killed or wounded.

But on the other end, hundreds of Grimm have already been slain. It was clear now that Merlot would not go down without a fight. Those who didn't believe in the Grimm had no trouble killing them, but for people like Ruby, people who knew that Grimm had souls deep down, it was the most heart rending thing. Toothless and Hiccup were able to cripple the right flight force of the Grimm after a while, and slowly after that they began to gain a foothold. But then enhanced, mutated Lancers swarmed from their hives and wiped out an eighth of the center strike force, only managing to lose about two or three in the process.

It was hard for the warships to strike the Grimm since they flew so close to the huntsmen and armies. Pretty soon, though, Atlesian Sentinels dropped from the sky. These armor suits gained the momentum that the huntsmen needed. Half the islands were now under their control, and at the center was Merlot. For some reason, he seemed more calm than he should have.

Seeing this, Ruby, Toothless, and Hiccup all rushed to the center. Before they got near, though, Merlot was able to send a wave of energy. What seemed like an attack seemed to halt the technology that kept Toothless airborne. They landed several islands away from Merlot, with a legion of Grimm between them.

"You have to make it to Merlot! Otherwise this whole battle is for nothing!" Hiccup shouted over the screeching Grimm.

"But what about you?" Ruby replied. Hiccup pulled out his sword. However, the Monstrous Nightmare saliva was instantly extinguished by the wind. "Here!" Ruby then tossed him a vial of fire Dust. He folded the blade back, inserted the vial, and unfolded it again. The flames were then both stronger and more resilient to the wind, and the flames seemed to infuse into the blade itself.

"That'll work." Hiccup smirked as he sliced a Grimm in two. "Make it happen, Ruby!" They then resumed their fight, slashing through the wall of Grimm. Ruby didn't know or feel it, but the entire time her eyes shone with a brilliant silver. However, Ruby could feel a twitching in her arm, a feeling that was clearly not a muscle spasm.

Until finally, she reached the island right next to Merlot. All he did was smirk. "Not very impressive, if I'm honest. The only reason you're here is because of those eyes of yours."

Ruby only unfolded Cerulean Rose and pointed it at Merlot. "I am Ruby Rose, huntress of Beacon Academy and slayer of the Black Death. Unless you want to come with us with a few less limbs, I suggest you surrender immediately."

"Oh! Why such hurtful thorns for such a beautiful rose? But then again, that's not really you talking, is it?" Merlot gave a smart grin. "Yes, you're not the only one outside that damn mountain that knows about your little gift. The ability to cross universes- such an outstanding power! And Iserrule has that power tenfold! You must understand, I simply need to build his army! It's a noble cause, I assure you."

"Noble my ass, you just don't want Iserrule to decimate you." Ruby snarled with eyes shining brilliantly.

Merlot sighed. "You really are a clever girl." He rushed her with his metal hand, which she blocked in the same interval. They were at each other's throats, each one trying to wear the other down.

In the next moment, Ruby activated the thruster in her foot to deliver a devastating kick to his other arm. But somehow, it didn't break, despite the overwhelming force. She then saw a metallic gleaming under his sleeve.

"And you're not the only one improving their body." The skin peeled away from his arm to reveal more metal.

"So that's it. You've turned yourself into a madman for power. You tore yourself to pieces just so that you could defeat me." Ruby growled as she used both her semblance and her thrusters to sweep his legs and kick him near the edge of the island. "But if you think you can go up against the culmination of a thousand humans, seeking justice and honor, you better think again!" Her voice echoed with voices from ages past, each one equally as powerful.

Merlot growled in rage. "You're right, I can't." Toothless roared in the distance, a blast of blue fire blasting through a dozen more Grimm. Merlot grinned as he said "But an amalgamation against an amalgamation is more than enough." Merlot then raised his hand, and black energy emitted from it. Ruby could see, even from her spot, that Toothless reacted to it.

"No." Ruby gasped, the glow in her eyes fading. She knew what he was thinking.

"So you know the truth, don't you? And yet, you overlooked it so willingly." Merlot said with a wide grin. "You knew that you never heard of a Night Fury before then. And in that book that you looked through so many times, you saw that a Night Fury was of knowledge. The page that never existed until that moment. And you didn't give it a second thought?"

Ruby then remembered the graves in the forest. And then, she remembered knowledge that was entirely false, but at the same time completely true. The lake in front of Beacon, false knowledge. The death of Summer Rose, complete lies. Her very history, a lie.

"You see now. And you know that Toothless is neither Grimm nor Dragon. He is both. But that little bit of Grimm in him. That one little bit is more than enough to make him… revert." Merlot then balled his fist. The energy intensified, turning into a powerful ball of darkness that seemed to connect to Toothless. Toothless came crashing down on the island. He was writhing on the ground. Blood seeped from his scales as his claws began to glow red.

"No. No, STOP!" Ruby screamed.

"It's already begun. It cannot be stopped, nor can it be reverted. But please, O great silver eyed warrior, try." Merlot grinned.

Ruby knew it was useless to try. The influence of the darkness was too great for her to revert.

The bones grew over his scales as the blood red markings began to glow all over him. The technology all over him tore off, and he became a completely different being. The conversion was complete. Toothless, the kindest soul and most fierce fighter, was now a mindless beast.

"Toothless… please, no!" Ruby exclaimed.

"The Grimm have no regard for human life. Not even yours. Kill her." The blue fire began to build up in its mouth. Ruby knew he was building for a blast that would tear through her aura. It was then that she noticed a white light in the palm of her hand.

In the timespan of a microsecond, she saw a flash of a man with ultimate power with a malformed arm similar to a cannon. After that, a ball of devastating white light, then nothing but death and destruction.

"NO! PLEASE, NO! STOP!" Ruby screamed. She scrambled away from Toothless, not in fear for her own life, but his.

The light intensified, and her hand was stuck aiming at Toothless. She tried to move, but it wouldn't go anywhere.

"PLEASE, I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST MAKE IT STOP!" Ruby was crying now, the light was almost blinding.

"W-What the hell is that!?" Merlot exclaimed.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! RUN!" Her voice cracked as she screamed for mercy. For both herself and Toothless.

Merlot tripped over himself trying to run away. But the Grimm within him made him halt. "I don't believe your job is done, Doctor." A dark voice whispered into his ear, a voice only Merlot could hear. His eyes widened in horror as his body was taken over by the demon within him.

"LET ME GO!" Merlot exclaimed.

"STOP IT!" Ruby begged, but the light only grew stronger. Eventually, neither side could hold back anymore. Both she and Toothless released powerful blasts of fire and light, which engulfed half the islands. It was a firestorm for those outside the blast radius. When the light faded, a tide of wind and water was sucked into the center. Islands collided, creating a gravitational chain reaction, which made the wind even more powerful.

And at last, calm. The sun set on the final day of the universe. The death toll for this battle was greater than any battle before that. Half the islands were turned to dust, and the other half were in pieces. Some islands even lost too much Dust and fell into the lake.

* * *

"Where's Ruby?!" Jaune shouted. They were searching every corner of the islands to find her, or at least a hint of where she's gone. Dark clouds began to form above.

"There's an island in the center, still intact!" Weiss exclaimed. They all rushed over to the island through a path of floating rubble, along with Weiss creating a few glyphs to help the trek, and saw, through the smoke, a shadow with a cloak.

"Ruby!" They all exclaimed at once. But what they saw was beyond what they could imagine. Her arm was extended, with her left hand tightly around it. Her expression was that of terror and pain. And her body was no longer of flesh and blood.

She had been turned to stone, along with Toothless and Merlot. Like the shadows of those in the center of a devastating blast, all that remained was their lifeless bodies turned to stone.

The dark clouds began to swirl overhead. A voice of dread began to whisper in their ears.

"The eyes have now been blinded. Dread, sorrow, misery. It is only of human nature to mourn for monsters. Hatred, anger, loathing. It is of human nature to hate what it doesn't understand. Life, death, cycle. This is the infinite loop which humanity will now and forever undergo. War, bloodshed, accusations. It is of human nature to pursue peace, but always push it away. Life, world, universe. The three things that must die to end suffering. One day, you will understand all that I do, and why I destroy the world."

And in the final word, all in this universe ceased. And one more light was extinguished.

To be concluded

Rose of the Underground

Escape Reality


End file.
